Crossfire
by SiriusUntiltheVeryEnd
Summary: "An investigative reporter witnessed Alexander Nott murder a civilian. With her testimony, we can put him and half his guys in Azkaban. We just need someone stationed with her 24/7 to make sure she makes it to the hearing in three months." Malfoy said, "Oh Clarkson! I forgot to ask. What's this girls name?" Clarkson turned and said, "Rose. Rose Weasley."
1. Clocks

_Come out of things unsaid_

_Shoot an apple off my head_

_And a trouble that can't be named_

**-Coldplay-**

* * *

"Mum," Rose rubbed her temples dropping down on her couch, flailing her legs. "I'm going to need you to stop worrying."

"I'm your mother. I'm allowed to be concerned."

"Of what?! I've been a journalist FOR YEARS! And I'm fully aware of your opinion on the matter mother! But I'm nearly 25 years old-"

"Not until July!" Hermione Granger Weasley insisted with a fierce expression on her face.

Completely over this conversation, Rose sunk so low on the couch that she slipped down to the floor, in a gesture of complete and entire defeat. Her dark hair, and thick bangs, hung in her eyes as she rolled around on the floor.

"Rose, would you stop that? Why do you always do this? ..." Hermione turned out of the fireplace, to speak to someone on her side, "Ron she gets this from you!"

Rose snorted and laughed, clamping her hand over her mouth.

"Rose Weasley, you are a grown adult, get up off the floor."

"See that's the joy of it ma," Rose smirked, "I'm an adult, this is my flat, I can do whatever I want. If I want to lay down here all day thinking about my life or my choices I can-"

"Maybe you should do that." Her mother retorted.

Rose groaned, rubbing her face. "OR I could lay here and think about what my spirit animal is."

"Your Patronus is a _drag-on_." She scoffed.

"I'm _highly aware_ of that, but that doesn't mean that's what I would be if I turned into an animal. For all you know I'd be a harmless bunny or a cheetah!"

Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples. "I swear your brother is older than you."

"Whatever mum."

"I don't have time for this. I have to go to work, as do you!"

"Really? I thought that I could just...show up whenever I want." Rose teased her mother relentless, her face impassive.

"Good-bye Rose!"

Rose stayed on the floor for a few minutes, giggling to herself.

When she was younger her mother's hovering used to drive her mad, but the older she became the more amused the whole thing made her. Rebellion to other kids would be smoking, drinking and doing drugs. For Rose it was sneaking out, getting a tattoo and choosing to be an investigative reporter, instead of going for the safe cushy ministry job that her mother wanted her to go for. It made the monthly family night dinners exhausting, to hear her mother and grandmother outwardly expressing concern over her, but she had long learned to ignore it. She wasn't going to just get a sensible job, get married and have children; Rose wanted to live her life.

To be fair only her grandmother pushed the children and marriage on her, but Rose still felt resentful that her mother had fought in the last wizarding war for their rights so that her daughter could sit on her hands and do nothing all day.

Popping to her feet, Rose walked over to the mirror and checked out what she was wearing; dark tight jeans, ankle boots, with a black wife beater and a vintage leather jacket. She didn't particularly like wearing all black or having dark hair, it made her look far too pale, but she'd been in this branch of the Daily Prophet too long to give it much more than a few moments thought. If she did a different type of reporting she might be able to keep her red hair and not have to have long thick bangs to make her look as plain as possible. But this was her life, blending in to get the gritty stories that no one else could get, and she was good.

In the seven years she'd been working in the Daily Prophet, she'd worked in three different areas; fashion, homicide and investigative reporting. She stayed in fashion for about a year before she was allowed to transfer. Working with clothes and trying to understand the importance of designer's choices with colors and patterns wasn't quite Rose's thing. For two years she'd worked with homicide, and absolutely loved it. It was like one big puzzle she had to solve, but she didn't get as much work as she should've, because of her name. That was when Rose decided it was her time to make a difference. Rose switched departments again, but this time she took a different approach. She changed her hair, changed the way she dressed, changed how she put on her makeup and even changed her eye color from blue to green. Soon people didn't notice too much what her name was, but started noticing the stories she was writing.

For the past four years it had been like this. She went by a different name in her column. Her close family knew her pen name and she was free to live her life and write the stories she wanted to write. Often she wished she could do it under her own name, but she worried that no one would take her seriously still. After all, her whole everything she'd ever accomplished was always attributed to her surname, not her own merit, why would that change now?

Sighing Rose, pocketed her wand and said, "This is as good as it's gonna get."

* * *

"Yo Malfoy," Damon smirked sitting on the edge his best friend's desk. "Where were you this morning?"

Scorpius laughed at his dark haired friend. "I was sleeping. Where were you?"

"Very good question. I was sleeping with a very lovely girl. My question is, why weren't you? I had you all set up!"

"Yeah I know you did," Scorpius scoffed, with a small grin. "She wasn't my type."

Damon rolled his eyes, "She was tall, brunette and busty, what's not to like?"

"She didn't say a word the whole evening, she just looked at me like everything I said was gold and laughed at the horrible jokes Albus was making."

"Okay the one he made about the two American's wasn't half bad."

"You had about five firewiskeys when he made that joke. I think your judgment was rather impaired."

Damon shrugged, "Think what you want Scorpy."

"You really have to give me the most detestable nicknames don't you?" Scorpius wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"See, I'm good looking and adorable so I can get away with pretty much anything."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night mate."

Standing up, Damon adjusted his robes, his dark hair falling into his gray eyes, accenting the bad boy Auror image he worked so hard to perfect. Scorpius didn't even look at his friend. He'd known Damon Turpin since he was six years old. Both children of fallen Death Eaters, they bonded quickly and were nearly inseparable when they were both put into Slytherin. It was different with Albus. As soon as Scorpius met Albus Potter on the train to Hogwarts they connected immediately since they had nearly everything in common. Damon on the other hand seemed to really push the limits of the friendship contract they signed when they were eight. Maybe now that they were 25 he could broker and put an end to that contract.

"Well I guess I'll go see if my REAL best friend is in yet." Damon huffed walking away.

"You do that." Scorpius replied wryly going through his paperwork.

Yawning, Scorpius took a sip of his coffee and rubbed the dark circles under his eyes. He had sporadically insomnia his whole life. Some nights he was fine. He'd come home and go straight to sleep, but then other nights he wouldn't be able to settle his mind. It was never about anything in particular; he just couldn't seem to turn his brain off. It always used to drive his girlfriends crazy. They'd awake to find him sitting by himself in the living room and think there was something they could do to fix it, to fix him, and when they couldn't it usually attributed the countless other reasons they couldn't make it work in their relationship. It was a bit aggravating, but by the end of them all he found himself a bit relieved that it was over.

Albus strolled over with a wide smirk on his good-natured face. It was funny; he actually was mistaken for Damon sometimes. They both had jet-black hair, pale complexions, but the minute they stood next to each other it was obvious that 1) Damon was really rather short, which was funny, considering his pompous behavior and, 2) Albus was built like a beanpole, like his dad had been at that age whereas Damon had at least a small amount of muscle.

"So I hear it didn't go so hot last night?"

"Merlin, what is he trying to get paid for being a nosy git now?" Scorpius laughed shaking his head.

Albus shrugged with a distinctive look of amusement. "Probably. What's new with you?"

"Nothing. Just working the night shift tonight."

_"Oh joy_. Last time you did that, you had to babysit those psycho spinsters."

"Thank you, because I _really_ wanted to remember that."

Albus grinned, cradling his tea into his chest. "Who else is on duty tonight?"

"Me," Scorpius scratched his face thoughtfully, "Um, Joe Savage, Mike Smith and Clara Wilkins I think."

"Joe and Mike? That sounds like you're getting the old W3 crew back together to me."

"Don't remind me. I enjoyed living with them so much in my youth that I find myself wondering why Mike isn't always in the bathroom."

Nodding, Albus sighed wistfully, "Don't we all? Don't we all."

* * *

Arriving at work, ten minutes before she was due to report in, Rose walked over to her dearest cousin's office, which was only a cubical or two away from her own. It was nice working so close to James. If she had to get stuck with one relative, she'd pick James any day of the week, and every hour over her cousin Lucy.

"Hey stud," Rose teased, waltzing in without knocking, setting his half cream, whip creamed topped coffee on his desk, before dropping into the open chair next to him.

James grinned, "How are you Ro?"

"Can't complain. Mum's on the warpath about my job." Rose snorted wryly before taking a rather large sip of her own coffee.

"Well everyone can't be a Senior Quidditch Correspondent like myself... She needs to get over it though." James rolled his eyes running a hand through dark wayward hair. His brown eyes twinkled in amusement. "Did you hear Ted Davis died?"

"No shit, _how_?!" Rose gasped adjusting her position to tuck one of her legs underneath her.

"Well you know, the word is that a week or so ago he was caught with his pants around his ankles by his wife with the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation, but this morning he was found dead in his flat."

Rose frowned, but then it occurred to her, "Wait I know he is the Head of International Magical Cooperation, but his mistress...she was someone important..."

"She's the 20 year old American Minister of Magic intern."

"AHHHH! That is such a juicy story. What are the leads on that one?"

"No idea yet, all it said in the paper were the facts. I'm sure the Auror's office will meet with someone about the suspects and how the case is going later this week."

Rose let out a low whistle, her mind going over all the possibilities of how the man could have been murdered. "Damn that's a good story...Who found that one?"

"Actually it didn't come from homicide. They didn't go over the crime scene until after the story was already written. I think someone from your department actually got the inside track. And since it obviously wasn't you...Crate is out on sick leave, Jones never takes gossip...Then it was either Zerga, Kenneth or Hamilton."

"It could have been a ghost writer." Rose suggested, with a shrug, "It's hard to tell which one of us writes what just based on writing style. Jones is the only one who venomously denies if something was written by him."

"Either way. The man is dead, and someone is going to get to tell the story of what happened."

Rose gave him a knowing smile. James always pushed for her to return to the field she loved most, but he never understood why she hesitated. It wasn't something she could really explain, even to him. "One day I'll return to homicide and be able to figure those puzzles out again."

"I know." He gave her a warm smile. "By the way, I'm having dinner with Albus and he's bringing those two sidekicks of his."

"If that's an invitation to tag along and be a buffer I'll pass." Rose grinned popping up out of her seat. "But do give him my love. I hardly see Albus these days, what with him working all the time and dating that abominable...I don't even know how to define that woman...No word seems to do her justice."

James laughed hard, his high cheekbones rising, making his brown eyes grow small. "I have yet to meet the woman, but from what I've heard from you, Lily and Hugo, I'm sure she's a lovely young woman."

"You'll see soon enough." Rose checked her watch, fastening it tighter so it would block her tattoo. She hugged him, "Well I must be off. I'll see you Sunday."

"Don't forget to bring dessert or my mum will have your arse!" James called after her.

Rose didn't even bother to respond. She had to turn in an article, see if she was left any new assignments and spend the rest of the day doing research. It was nice to be mostly freelance. She'd get assignments like the staff writers and was paid the same amount as them, but there was just something to be said about rarely being expected to be at her desk. It didn't hurt both that sometimes her job took her overseas and let her see the underbelly of the world. And she really liked that.

Erika, the office manager of sorts, waltzed over to Rose the minute she made it to her desk with a stern look on her round face.

"Erika, what do I owe the pleasure?" Rose smirked, knowing the frazzled look on her friends kind face.

"Do you have any idea how ridiculous Davis is being?"

"He's a Ravenclaw," Rose shrugged.

Erika sighed, and handed Rose her mail. "We're having a department meeting on Tuesday to discuss new procedure's on assignments."

"Thanks for the notice," She glanced through her mail, "But don't let Davis get to you. He's an uptight prick."

"I know, I know."

"How are Joseph and the kids?"

Erika lit up at the mention of her family, her hazel eyes warming. "They're good. Hunter is turning eight later this week."

"Aw, that's cute. If you ever need a sitter, you know who to ask."

"Thanks Rose," Erika smiled walking away in better spirits than when she arrived.

Letting out a low whistle, Rose finished rifling through her mail until she found one without a return name or address on it. Her eyebrows puckered together in excitement, and she glanced around to see if anyone was looking before opening the previously sealed envelope.

'West Ealing, West London, Cavendish Avenue at about 6pm. Come alone.'

Rose burned the note and sat down at her desk. It wasn't uncommon that the department was sent anonymous tips or she wasn't sent to get information from unnamed sources, but no one had ever sent her anything personally. That meant that either the information was too hot and it couldn't be trusted with just anyone, or that they wanted to get her alone. The second option was terrifying, and while she replied to the letters she had received, she thought about what she should do. The logical part of her mind was screaming that this was stupid and that she shouldn't even consider going after this lead. All day she struggled with the decision, but finally at 5:45, she decided she was going.

She sent a note to Albus as a backup resort and left the Ministry.

* * *

Scorpius rubbed his eyes, and yawned. It was 11:47. He had gone home for a few hours to get a nap before his second shift. He'd be in until 1am before he could go home and crash. He was only on duty in case there was an emergency, but there hardly ever was. The war was over; occasionally there would be a murder or something to that effect, but nothing that would require all six people on duty to be needed. Mostly it was just time he spent going over his casework and trying to stay awake.

Since Joe Savage and Albus were working, he'd hope they'd come bring him back some coffee like he'd asked them hours earlier, but he didn't hold his breath. The Ministry coffee was horrid, but he bravely took a sip and dealt with it.

His boss, a husky man in his late fifties started marching over to Scorpius's desk. He'd seen him in the distance and groaned. Though most of his casework were cold cases and he didn't mind that, but he did mind the throbbing headache growing in the back of his neck. The idea of going out this late to get this perp wasn't what he wanted to hear right then, but then again, maybe sitting down was putting him in the mood he was in. Either way, he tried to keep his mind open.

"Malfoy," Clarkson began briskly, "You have a new assignment."

Scorpius leaned back in his chair with an inquisitive look on his face, "What is it?"

"An investigative reporter witnessed Alexander Nott murder a civilian. With her testimony we can put him and half his guys in Azkaban. We just need someone stationed with her 24/7 to make sure she makes it to the hearing in three months."

He wasn't too thrilled with the possibility of spending every moment of his day with a stranger, but he shrugged it off. Being an Auror had made him flexible; he'd had to endure much worse than this during training alone.

"Alright."

"Potter and Savage, are bringing her back now." Clarkson declared, scratching in silver mustache, before walking away.

"Oi! Clarkson! I forgot to ask. What's this girls name?"

Only a few desks lengths away, Clarkson turned and said, "Rose. Rose Weasley."  
Scorpius's bad mood returned instantly, and he sunk into his chair, his headache growing.  
"...Ah."


	2. Pony (It's Okay)

_You hold your head up to the sky_

_You say what kind of blue are you, are you?_

**-Erin McCarley-**

* * *

Rose took a slow breath, before walking into the alleyway she was instructed to meet her mysterious pen pal. Her adrenaline was pumping through her body, but she forced herself to remain calm. If there was one thing she prided herself on it was keeping a calm, level head in stressful situations. She hated how the women in her family tended to lose their shit whenever anything became too complicated. Sure there were extenuating circumstances that permitted such behavior, but her mother, grandmother, aunt and all her female cousins tended to plan every single moment of their lives so they would never not be in control. Rose wasn't like that. Sometimes it was kind of thrilling to live on the edge.

Once she walked into the alley, she gripped her wand tightly and remembered all the self-defense training she had taken a few years earlier, but she immediately relaxed when she recognized who the tall man under the cloak was.

"Connor?" She gasped rushing forward.

"_Don't say my name_!" He hissed grabbing her by the warm and walking away from the street.

She was confused, "Why didn't you just put your name on the letter?"

"Because I couldn't risk this getting back to me."

"Then why didn't you send it to the department anonymously?"

"I needed someone I could trust," He gulped, biting his bottom lip, while his brown eyes surveyed her face. "And I thought ...well when I saw you were on staff..."

Rose shook her head with a small smile. "You thought you'd call upon your fifth year girlfriend for a favor."

"_Not a favor._.." He began to sweat, his brown hair hung in his face. Connor looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. "I've gotten involved in something Rose...something bad and the only way I can think to get out is if I have proof of what I've seen."

"What do you mean?" She asked, crossing her arms and lowering her voice, while the darkness of the night surrounded them.

"Alexander Nott...the crime boss, he's a Death Eater's son and now he's in charge of all of the mass murdering of Muggle and Muggle-born extortion...They've been trying to catch him and his family for years, but they never get any witnesses, but if I brought you and you stayed invisible, and I could get him to admit it..."

"You mean before or after he_ KILLS_ you?!" Rose growled, _"Are you mad?_!"

Connor shook his head, and she could see his pulse racing from just looking at the panic in his eyes. "I have to do this Rose. Please help me. You just have to stand there, then when the time is right, create a distraction and we will high tail it out of there...For doing it...I'll...I'll give you an inside scoop on the story, whatever you want. I just need out, but I can't just leave..." He gasped looking around nervously, "If I leave they will find me...I need a guarantee that they won't hurt me..."

"Why don't you talk to your father?" Rose asked, "I'm sure Oliver would-"

"He was a professional Quidditch player, he has no power.._.I did this._..I was stupid enough to get myself into this...I have to get myself out. But I need your help. Please Rose."

She frowned, this was a horrible plan. A horrible, disorganized, destined to fail plan. She opened her mouth to suggest they go to her uncle, but he shook his head as if he could read her thoughts.

Connor said, his chin jilting out. "Rose, I'm doing this tonight, with or without you. If you don't come I'll wear a wire and figure out how to do it myself. I can't...I can't wait anymore. They will kill me soon."

"But why will they-?"

"Just yes or no."

Rose gave him a helpless look and let out a growl of frustration, "Fine, fine! I'll come, but this ...This has to be the worst plan ever."

"That's why it will work."

* * *

Three hours later Rose sat in an interrogation room. Her cousin had brought her twenty minutes earlier, and just let her sit there while he went to go get someone higher up on the Auror totem pole than him. Her hair wasn't straight anymore, through the sweat it had curled and clung to her neck and face. That didn't bother her though. What bothered her was the stinging cut on her cheek, the soreness from the bruise along her ribs and the black eye she was sporting on the left side of her face.

It was late and all she wanted was to go to sleep. To go to sleep and forget everything that happened. Her head was aching, and all she could see was images of Connor dying...

Rose was taken from her thoughts when her cousin Albus walked in with her uncle, "So I have already taken her statement in front of Joe Savage."

"Alright," Her uncle sat down across from her, his face was calm as his green eyes surveyed her face. "We will be moving you to a safe house-"

"No, no, no no. Here's how this is going to work," Rose informed her uncle sharply before he could get the upper hand. "I am a witness, but in order for me to cooperate, you have to follow a few conditions."

Her cousin rolled his eyes, "Rose you have to-"

"Actually, no I don't Albus, so why don't you sit down and keep your mouth shut?"

She didn't like talking to them like this, but if she didn't cut them off now they'd never listen. Yes this was a serious situation, but she was an adult and she would be treated as much. There wasn't going to be any hand holding, coddling, or treating her like they were going to make decisions for her.

"I'm not your cousin right now. I am a witness. These people will kill me for the information I could give. I'm in mortal danger, therefore, you and your father will treat me with respect and acknowledge that I am an asset and not a 12 year old."

Harry scowled, "Fine. What are your conditions?"

"You can't tell anyone anything about this. Legally you aren't allowed to anyway, but I'm putting this stipulation because I know how our family has a tendency to break the rules and dig into each other's business. If you tell my father, I won't testify," She told them bluntly and seriously. "I know my father. He will lock me up and never let me leave the house, that is simply not happening."

".._.Understandable._" Albus acknowledged, "Is that it?"

"I'm not going anywhere either. These people expect me to flee the country, they would never expect that I'd stay put and be hiding in plain sight. Especially since they don't know my name."

Her uncle sighed, and took a second to think before he asked her wearily, "Anything else?"

"I know half the Auror department so if it's at all possible can I be put with someone I'd be likely to be seen with? If I'm stuck with a sixty year old man then I won't be able to find a lie convincing enough to explain why he goes everywhere I go."

"...I'm sure we can find something that will work."

"Well that's all I require." Rose declared with a large sigh, "Now what are your requirements of me?"

"For starters you have to let the Auror go wherever you go, no ditching them, no going off on your own and no fighting that. Otherwise you will be taken to a safe house and you won't get a choice. This is the Head of Auror department saying this, not your uncle." Her Uncle said firmly adjusting his glasses.

Rose raised two fingers, "Scouts honor."

"Also you can't get another Auror, once they are assigned you have to go along with it." Albus added wryly.

"Fine," She crossed her arms, with a worn look on her face. "Fine."

"Then sit tight Rose, I'll be back in a few minutes. When I come back we will pretend to be moving you into protective custody, and once we get you into the back detainment area Teddy will change into your form and we will alter your appearance and you can meet your handler. Okay?"

"Okay," Rose nodded firmly.

The instant she was left alone she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to the cool surface of the interrogation table.

She hadn't let it show the entire time, but under the table her hands had been shaking. It was okay though, because she wasn't crying. As long as there was no crying she was doing fantastic.

She had kept composed when she apparated to Albus's flat. She had kept composed when he was yelling and freaking out. When Albus dragged her to the Ministry. There was no crying or even a concerned expression on her face. Rose refused to freak out.

Nope. No. Not happening.

The table felt incredible on her face but the longer she was by herself the more she began to think she was the Weasley woman with a problem. If she had followed a plan, and had been in control of that plan this wouldn't have happened. When you are reckless and stupid is when everything goes to hell. When you have everything in order there is no room for things like murder, fights and terrifying emergency exits. Groaning under her breath, she just kept focusing on her breathing, her tongue pressed against her top lip as she rubbed her hands together to stop from shaking.

She would alright. This would be all right.

* * *

"Alright head to the detention area Malfoy. She's waiting for you." Joe Savage announced, scratching his dark skin and yawning.

Malfoy nodded and moved up to stand. "Do you have any idea how I was chosen for this?"

"Nope, but she did ask for it to be someone she'd met before..." Joe laughed, "I guess she didn't think her Uncle would take it that literally."

"You are enjoying this way too much." Scorpius glared at his friend.

"What? It's not often I get to see you squirm mate. We lived together for three years and you never broke a sweat over anything." He snickered loudly his broad shoulders shaking. "And look at you know."

Scorpius's lips thinned while Joe followed him. "I'm not sweating anything."

"See if Damon were here, he'd back me up on this."

"Well he isn't. So why don't you find something better to do while I go do my job?"

Joe laughed again and walked away, but his words didn't leave Scorpius.

The detention area wasn't far from the department offices so it didn't take Scorpius long to get there but the entire walk over all he could think about was the last time he spoke to her.

* * *

_"Weasley!" Scorpius laughed, drunk off his arse._

_Rose was sitting on the Hogwarts grounds crying softly to herself, but he couldn't see that until he dropped down next to her. "Just...just go away Malfoy."_

_"What's wrong?" He asked though the sober version of him would have left instantly._

_"My life is in shambles...my mascara is running...and I'm pretty sure I look like half a Raccoon because of that."_

_"I've never even seen a Raccoon." Scorpius contributed with a deep philosophical look on his face._

_She gave him a look and immediately started laughing. She hugged her knees, and adjusted her blue dress. "How much have you had Malfoy?"_

_"A... bit." He grinned._

_"Well," she wiped the streaks of mascara off her face and smiled at him, "I think we did a good job. We made it the whole year without killing each other."_

_Scorpius nodded. "Yes we did."_

_"What are you doing out here anyway? Damon and Albus were headed to the Forbidden Forest last time I checked."_

_"Um... I don't remember." He squinted for a moment. "Oh! I'm not going with them. I have to wake up early... for all the graduation stuff."_

_Rose laughed again, her face lighting up, "Wow...You are hysterical when you drink."_

_"What are you...talking about?"_

_"You are such a tight ass normally...but you should loosen up more often. It works on you."_

_He looked at her, "Oh it does?"_

_"I'm just saying."_

_"Why were you crying?" He asked bluntly, all of his censors completely gone at this point._

_Rose frowned. "I'm just nervous about graduating and...giving my speech. I get bad stage fright..." She looked at him, and shook her head with another laugh. "Okay this is so weird."_

_"Why?" Scorpius asked his eyebrows rising while he scrunched his face up in an odd way._

_"Because, we are talking...and we don't talk...and this is weird. And you are smiling ...a lot and it's weird."_

_He shrugged much more dramatically than necessary. "We're leaving tomorrow. We'll never see each other again. It's... not...a deep thing."_

_"Yeah I suppose you're right." Rose looked at him. "Come on, we should get back to the dorm. It's late and we both have to get up early."_

_Scorpius ran a hand through his blond hair. "Yeah."_

_She carefully moved to her feet, but paused. "What the hell did I do with my shoes? ...I know I had them when I was chasing Caroline around earlier...oh well."_

_"Can you walk without them?" Scorpius questioned, clumsily pushing himself up to his feet._

_"Yeah, I'll be fine." She reassured him, but she noticed his tie was half off and that his... She shook her head and asked, "How about you? Can you walk?"_

_"Yep, I'm fine." He took two steps, but somehow managed to stay stable, despite his blurry eyes._

_Once they made it to the steps, she grabbed his elbow and helped him into the building despite his strong assurances that he could have done it on his own. Her red hair fell into her face, and he couldn't help, but notice how nice it looked. So much so that by the time they reached the entrance to their dorm, he felt the need to tell her._

_"Your hair looks ...nice."_

_She smiled, "Thanks Malfoy. Do you think you can make it up the stairs to your room?"_

_"Yeah." He nodded closing his eyes in the process._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"I'm fine."_

_"Are you sure?" She asked putting a hand on his shoulder._

_Scorpius pushed the portrait hole open, and suddenly swung down and scooped her up. "See...I'm great."_

_Laughing, Rose's arms wrapped around my neck. "Okay...Okay I believe you! ...How are you even holding me right now? You can barely stand straight."_

_"Lie." Scorpius shook his head._

_"Okay...Well what's the plan now?"_

_"I only thought this far ahead."_

_Rose snorted. "Well, as lovely as this is, you can put me down Scorpius."_

_He slowly, and unevenly place her on the floor. "You called me Scorpius."_

_"Yes I did." She nodded, then stumbled, and grabbed his shoulders for support. "Okay," Rose paused and looked up at him._

_Scorpius wasn't thinking, but as soon as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes, he just acted, he kissed her. Even drunk he'd figured she'd push him off, he'd apologize and run or, in his state, stagger off never to mention this again. But she didn't. Instead she tentatively kissed him back._

_Pulling away, she looked at him oddly. "Why did you do that?"_

_"I don't know."_

_Before he could do or say anything she shrugged and pounced on him. This time it was no cautious kiss. It was a full on snog, which he found himself enjoying immensely. Soon his hands were trailing down her body, grazing her curves, before spinning her around and pinning her against the back wall. Her lips were persistent against his, kissing him with a passion that he never thought Rose had. She pushed her body against him so the front of her dress was riding up..._

* * *

Shaking his head when he entered the Detention Area, Scorpius rubbed his eyes and tried to forget. He was drunk and she was probably bored or something. It was almost eight years earlier and didn't matter. He would be perfectly professional. It was never a problem before and most certainly wouldn't be a problem now.

Scorpius gave his wand and badge to the security guard. He fixed his expression to be more neutral and continued on. Surely, if he went into this with an indifferent attitude Rose would have no problem following suit.

Once he got through security he looked in the interrogation rooms to see which one she was in. He almost passed by the one where she was. Her hair was dark, and her eyes were not blue anymore, but green and she had a black eye and a split lip.

Albus walked up next to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "She's waiting inside."

"What the hell happened to her?"

"Oh one of them got a hold of her when she was trying to escape."

Scorpius said, "No I was talking about her hair and eyes."

Albus snorted, "A lot has changed in the past few years mate. My dad should be in there in a minute, but you should go in and say hi before you start since you're going to be spending so much time together you might want to start on good terms."

"Yeah," Scorpius grimaced, reaching for the door handle. "Sure. Yeah."


	3. The World Spins Madly On

_I thought of you and where you'd gone_  
_and let the world spin madly on_  
**-The Weepies-**

* * *

Rose kept her breaths steady. Soon she would be able to go home, and shower. She wouldn't have to think about what had happened for another three months and she could just repress it until then. It really didn't matter to her who they put with her. Although, it would be hysterical if it was Damon they stuck her with. Of course she would either make a vow to keep things professional, or she would make a silent bet with herself to see how long she could fight his animal magnetism... Of course the sex would be great at first, maybe the best she'd ever have, but then it would get worse, and then she wouldn't be able to look at him.

_It would be such a tragic story…_

She reached into her jacket pocket and jotted down the idea on her handy dandy palm sized notebook. Not bothering with quills, Rose used a pen she had bought at the shop down the street from her flat. There were a lot of Wizarding inventions she completely adored, but she wasn't a fan of how outdated they were.

Tucking the notepad back in her jacket, she glanced up just in time to see the door handle twisted, and Scorpius Malfoy open the door.

She hadn't seen him in... years. Sure she spent a majority of her early twenties hanging out in his flat, because Albus and his hysterically ridiculous roommates lived there, but Scorpius was always out or working when she was there. It was funny, she really should have ran into him at some point, but she didn't and now that she saw him... She was slightly taken aback. Here she was, looking like road kill, and he walked in, with his broad shoulders and short blonde hair looking flawless. He looked his age, but at the same time he had aged well. Not that he was bad looking in the first place. If her blurry memory served her well...he had always been attractive, but it was different seeing him now.

No longer did she wonder what it was like to be with him. She knew and Rose was completely and utterly fine with never doing that again. Rose was however confused as to why they would have had him of all people come to explain things to her. After all, she didn't need a babysitter so what was he doing here?

"Malfoy, you don't need to babysit me. I'm not going anywhere."

He gave her an odd look, shutting the door behind him, spinning the chair across from her around and straddling it. "They didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" She asked crossing her legs and arms.

* * *

Scorpius eyed her and had a hard time believing that this was the same girl he shared a dorm with for a whole year. It wasn't just looks either. Sure it took him a minute to realize it was her, but he was used to looking for people in disguises. She still had the same round face shape, narrow neck and though she was wearing enough makeup to cover the freckles on her face, he could still see the patterns lying under her foundation. Now that he knew it was her, it was difficult to process that Rose Weasley was the beaten, but fearless, grown woman in front of him.

"Well," He rested his arms on the top of the chair and leaned forward, "It seemed I've been assigned to your case."

She took a second to process whether or not he was kidding, and she laughed, baring her blood stained teeth. "... You _have_ to be fucking kidding me."

"Nope," He declared, his face impassive, though he nearly winced at the sight of the blood on her perfect teeth.

"You have to be kidding... Aren't you a little _young_ to be on this case anyway?"

Scorpius gave her a look. "I'm older than you."

"_Yeah,_" She scoffed, "By three months, not exactly a life time there Malfoy."

Shifting back into professional mode, Scorpius interlocked his fingers and looked at her coolly. "Now, I'm assuming you have already given your statement. So the next step in this process will be living arrangements."

"What do you mean?" Rose cringed, "Already... I don't like the sound of this."

"And you," Albus began walking in and quickly shutting the door, "said you wouldn't fight us."

Rose raised her hands innocently. "I'm just inquiring more information Al. You can hardly fault me for being interested in my own well-being."

"If you were interested in your own well-being, you wouldn't be here in the first place." Albus pointed out coyly, before shifting to address Scorpius, "I spoke with the head of the department-"

"You should just say dad. It's not like anyone doesn't know that you're related," Rose muttered under her breath, with a snicker.

Albus gritted his teeth, his voice firmer than before. "He said that you aren't going to require full scale detainment, but we will put her just on 24/7 personal watch, and if the situation grows more crucial than we will move her to a safe house."

"Regulation 93B?" Scorpius asked vaguely.

"I'm afraid so mate." Albus patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "I'll see you tomorrow Rose."

Rose frowned, "Why will you see me tomorrow…?"

Albus didn't answer he just walked away, with a small little smirk.

"What's he talking about?" Rose demanded.

Scorpius waited for the door to shut, before he faced her. "Look Weasley, this is how this is going to go. You get a choice you can either sleep in my flat or I sleep in yours. Either way it doesn't matter, because until your trial you don't go single foot without me trailing behind you."

"And what kind of story are we going to give to excuse me always being with you?"

"You're the writer, I'm sure you know what we'll have to say."

Scorpius enjoyed seeing Rose's face pale and her eyes grow wide with anger. "Seriously?! My mother is going to lose her mind…"

He didn't say anything about that; instead he chose to move on. "The idea is that you are also doing some kind of story on the Auror department and you have to shadow me on my cold cases."

That didn't sound too bad, that actually sounded kind of fun, but Rose was too exhausted and worn to focus on that now. Instead, she focused on the part where he couldn't leave her side for the next three months. She had promised she wouldn't fight them, and she wouldn't, but that didn't mean she couldn't find some wiggle room.

"Alright, let me get this straight," Rose tilted back, "You go to work, I have to come with you. I go out, you have to go with me."

He nodded, "Yep."

"So you're going to what sleep on my couch?"

"No. I'll put a bed in your living room and shrink it when I'm not using it."

Rose tried to find a problem with that, but she couldn't see anything she could really fight on. "...Fine..." She sighed in resignation, sinking in her chair. "Fine."

There was a tap on the window and Scorpius looked at her. "You're up Weasley."

* * *

Rose wasn't exactly sure how the hell they were going to pull of her going into lock up and come out looking different. Walking behind Scorpius, she kept her head down, and let herself look more scared than she was. If any of the criminals reported back what she did through their network, Rose wanted them to think she was weak and fragile. So they would believe easily that she was sent out of the country and not think to look here. Scorpius may not have seen her in years, but the minute they left the room he became in incredibly cold and distant and she knew why. If this was going to work, he needed to seem like he was just doing his job, working the night shift, and had no connection to Rose whatsoever.

Right before she went through processing, she caught Teddy move through the line. He also pretended not to know her, but once they went through individually to strip into prison jumpsuits he appeared.

"Hey cuz," He muttered under his breath.

"Always wonderful to see you Teddy." She said taking the sweats he handed her.

"I'm going to leave the room as you, and Albus is going to pretend to take me into Auror protective custody. You will take the invisibility cloak, when I hand it to you, and carefully go back the way you came. Go to the bathroom, change your hair, eye color, all of it. You have to look as natural as humanly possible. Then when you're done, you meet with your boss in Harry's office. You will get to keep your job, but unfortunately you can't work until this is over it will be too risky. It will be written as a medical absence."

"Okay," She breathed.

Teddy looked around and lowered his voice, "Rosie are you sure you're okay with this?"

Rose gave him a warm smile, despite the shooting pain in her cheeks. "You know what? …No, it's fine," She shrugged, "It's perfectly fine. Thank you for asking Ted."

"Sometimes, we're so busy hassling you like you're one of the boys and babying you like you're one of the girls, that we forget that you have feelings too."

"Yeah."

He eyed her hair nervously, "Make sure you change your hair back. If you don't it will be a dead give away."

Rose sighed, pulling off her pants and switching with Teddy, "It hasn't been red in six years. The family will be thrilled…"

"I'm leaving, get under the cloak, good luck." Teddy said, he took one hard look at her memorized what she looked like and an instant later her double was standing in front of her.

"Teddy!" She whispered.

He, or rather Rose's look alike turned, "What?"

"Remember, your bruised all over and a girl. Make yourself look weaker than you think you should."

Teddy considered this and immediately changed his posture. "Better?"

"Yeah."

He raised two fingers to his forehead and saluted her just like she had done to him a million times before. "Later."

Five minutes later, Rose did exactly what she was instructed to do, even though it wasn't as easy as they made it seem. For starters, moving around under an invisibility cloak wasn't as easy as some people made it out to be. Doing this sore and tired, while trying to maneuver around every single person, without being seen or heard, seemed damn near impossible to Rose at this point.

"What are all of these people doing here at this merlin forsaken hour?" Rose grumbled to herself silently. Making sure not to bump into the middle-aged man in front of her.

Once Rose avoided the nameless man she realized that not everyone here was a criminal. It confused her why this didn't occur to her earlier, but her head was pounding and she couldn't handling thinking about anything other than the task she had at hand.

After another close encounter, this time with a woman exiting the loo, Rose arrived the bathroom. She checked to make sure it was vacant, and then locked the door to make sure no one else came in, and then she went to work.

First she washed her face and mouth, but the outcome wasn't what she intended it to be. She wanted to just get rid of the makeup and blood, but somewhere in the middle of scrubbing her skin, for the fourth time, she realized she was doing too much. Her skin was now dry, raw and pink, except for the places that were black and blue.

She tried not to cry, she really did, but it was useless now. Alone, and makeupless in her old Quidditch sweats from Hogwarts, she fell apart. The last thing she wanted to see was what had happened to her. It was an all too well reminder of what she had seen, and that it was real.

When she had told her cousin and then her uncle what happened, she told it like a news story. There was no personal information or anecdotes attached. Not once did she say how it felt to watch her fifth year boyfriend be murdered in front of her. It didn't factor into the story. Now, standing in front of the rusty, mirror, she cried for the one person she'd never see again.

Yes, they hadn't spoken in years, and yes, she probably could have gone her entire life without seeing him and would've been perfectly fine with it. It really didn't affect her life how he would've chosen to spend his.

However, now it did, because if she had just stopped him... He might still be alive and she wouldn't have his blood on her hands... Rose wiped her teary eyes and tried to continue with her task at hand, thought this was easier said than done...

People may not be able to chose how strong they affect other people's lives, but Rose has always believed that people have a responsibility to make that impact a good one. To night she had not affected Connor's life the way she should have. One thing she always feared was having regrets. She'd rather make someone know exactly how she felt about them then lose them and never be able to tell them what they meant to her.

She didn't have any regrets with Connor personally. Their relationship had run it's course, but she did regret thinking he could handle what was happening. It shouldn't have been a thought in her mind to just go along with him. She should have made him stop, made him think about what he was doing. Maybe then she could have prevented his death...

Now, she'd never know.

Leaning over the sink, she shook as her face scrunched up and tears cascaded freely down her face. She did not bother to stop them, for they had to come sometime. When she came out she'd say it was just because she washed her face... or from the fight... The minute she left the room she wouldn't cry again, but now, she needed to cry.

Cry for the life Connor had and life that was now gone.

Cry for not stopping him, when she should have.

Cry for the life he was not going to be able to life.

Cry for his parents, and their loss of their son.

It was easier when she didn't know the person. When she was on homicide she could look at the most gruesome cases and not even flinch because they weren't people anymore, they were gone. And now Connor was one of those people, gone...

Rose wiped her eyes again with the least-most-dirty part of her shirt. Still shuddering, Rose pointed her wand at each eye and changed the color back to normal. She probably should have waited to mess with her hair until she was calm, but she didn't know how long that would take. There wasn't a lot of time allotted for this. In all honesty she probably took much longer than she should have, but she didn't focus on that. Instead, she pointed her wand to her sculpt and waited for the color to change to it's natural shade. After it was about where it used to be, she grew out her bangs, and gave herself side bangs. It wasn't the best job, but she could always fix it later, for now this would do. Once she was finished, she looked just like she used to.

* * *

Scorpius waited patiently at his desk. He'd officially finished his shift ten minutes before hand, but he couldn't leave without Rose. It wasn't that he didn't want to. He wanted to leave so badly, his temples were throbbing and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed. But he couldn't. This was his job, and there was nothing he took more seriously than his work.

Still, while he hung around he couldn't fight the feeling that this was going to be incredibly uncomfortable. Sure, she hadn't said anything that would make enable him to think she wouldn't act appropriately, but that didn't stop the uneasy feeling from growing in the pit of his stomach.

In the three assignments he'd had of this nature, they all had been women, but there never had been a problem. He'd seen a flicker of consideration on his face, but even when they made subtle attempts to get him to help them cope better he just kept a safe distance. It wasn't that he wasn't tempted, one was exceptionally beautiful, but he knew the way it worked. If he slept with them then it would compromise his judgment, and complicate everything. Women are taxing to begin with in his opinion, but no girl was worth all of that trouble.

Rubbing his eyes, he leaned forward in his chair and leaned his head on his hand. Albus clapped him on the shoulder, "I'll see you later mate."

"Yeah, bye."

Albus hesitated for a moment, "Just…be careful with Rose."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "You of all people should trust me with your cousin."

"Oh I do." Albus replied flatly. "I'm just saying. She's your type and you two would be the worst thing for each other."

"What do you mean she's my type?" Scorpius scoffed, "I'm not really into dark haired, angsty looking birds mate. I don't know where you've been all these years, but..."

Albus snorted, "Whatever, I'm just warning you. You've been through enough in the lady department. The last thing you need is my cousin ripping you apart."

"Wait," Scorpius laughed dryly, "Are you more worried that little Rose Weasley will break my heart than what I could do to her?"

"Well yeah, you're a gentleman, and you aren't as ruthless as she is."

"You're making her sound like a Black Widow Spider."

Albus visibly grimaced, "I wouldn't go that far…"

"Well then leave Albus." Scorpius told him condescendingly. "We are both professionals and I think I can handle one little girl."

"Yeah," Albus smirked, as Rose started to walk over. "That's what you think."

Scorpius shook his head. His best friend usually knew him well, but this time he was over thinking things. It wasn't a big deal. He watched Albus leave, and checked his own watch.

"Ready Malfoy?" Rose asked grumpily.

He nodded gettinging up from his desk. Once he stood, he glanced at her and paused. His pupils dilated as he took in new red hair, lack of makeup and younger looking face.

"What?" She asked furrowing her eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

"No," He gulped down any feelings he was feeling and repressed them. "Not at all. Let's go."

Rose gave him an odd look, but didn't ask him anything more.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

I want to thank my beta for editing my first few chapters. Sorry this took so long!


	4. A Mirror Without

_I wish that I could build a time machine_  
_A time machine and save_  
_All this trouble for my present self  
_**-Royal Wood-**

* * *

When Rose was really exhausted, time would pass quickly, and she wouldn't be able to remember all the little details of the day. Everything would just blur together into one long fuzzy memory.

This time it wasn't like that. She remembered everything, and she would've given anything not to.

When they entered her flat it was late at night. There had been no talking since they left the Auror office's, whether they just had nothing to say to one another, or whether they were both just too drained to talk was up for debate. Either way Scorpius followed behind her and locked the door.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He questioned, rubbing his face.

She scowled, and faced him, "What?"

"I need to know, for the protection detail."

"No." Rose relaxed, and shrugged, "No boyfriend, no fiancée, no nothing."

Scorpius nodded, and made a mental note of it. "Alright."

"Living room, kitchen, my room, bathroom, and closet..." Rose pointed to the respective rooms.

"The door to the bathroom goes to my bedroom, and the living room so...um...make sure you knock."

"Okay."

They looked at each other briefly. Scorpius could tell by the way she was breathing that she was about to pass out, and he worried for a split second that she might, but she didn't. Rose stood firmly, despite the fatigue that was pulling at her. He considered asking her if she was all right, but thought better of it. She just needed some sleep, and a shower, nothing that he had to trouble himself with, as it wasn't a part of his job description. He just had to make sure she was safe, not happy.

"Well, there's some blankets or pillows in that closet, and if you need anything else just take it… Night," Rose replied lamely, before disappearing into her bedroom.

Scorpius let out a low whistle. The next day he would have to return to his flat to get some clothes, and other essentials, but for now he's stuck sleeping on her couch. It was weird, but he didn't let the awkwardness of the situation get to him. This was just another assignment like any other, and he just was taking a bit longer than usual to adapt to it. Nothing worth fretting about.

He grabbed a pillow, and a blanket from the closet, and bunkered down on the couch. It was much more comfortable than it looked, and he was grateful for that, because he had slept on much worse. Sleep soon grabbed him, and he was deep in sleep.

Rose didn't fall asleep so easily. She didn't think she would be strong enough to make it to the shower, but she made herself do it. Her rationale was that she hadn't broken anything, and she didn't have any internal injuries, so there was no excuse to go to bed with a layer of soot on her skin. Once she changed out of her clothes, and got into the shower, she let herself fall apart.

Scorpius was asleep; she had heard his soft snores coming from the room before she turned the faucet on, so she didn't worry about him over hearing.

She didn't cry as much as she did earlier, but she did end up on the floor of her shower, huddled in a mess. She thought about all that happened in the past twenty-four hours, letting herself feel in the safety of her shower. Eventually she cried herself out, and calmed down to the point where she didn't feel like crying anymore. It was like she was wrung out, and had nothing left to feel. It was strange, she looked like Rose Weasley again, red hair and all, but she had never felt less like herself in all her life.

* * *

"Where's your food?" Scorpius asked her as she scooped up some Coco Pops into her mouth.

"I have cereal and milk… I don't cook."

"Obviously," Scorpius muttered, with a sour look on his face.

She wasn't in the mood to fight with him. Though she had gotten seven hours of sleep it still wasn't enough, her neck was still stiff, and her body ached, but it was better than nothing.

"So what do we have to do today?" She wanted to know.

He scowled and leaned against her kitchen cabinets. "I have to return to my flat to get some things. Then, we'll go to work."

"Do you work by yourself or do you have a partner?"

"I work by myself."

Rose rolled her eyes at his uptight expression, "Oh quit being such an arse. Just sit down, and have some cereal… You are _such_ a stick in the mud."

"What?"

"You're hungry, there's a box right here, and some milk. So why don't you just quit being such an aristocratic twat, and sit down? It won't make you a peasant."

Scorpius fought a smile. She was quick, and funny, but he needed to stay focused. "You don't even have coffee."

Rose scoffed, finishing her bowl, she leapt off her chair, washed her bowl in the sink, and left it out to dry. "Fine, if you are going to have a hissy fit over it, we can leave."

"Thank you," He said briskly.

Rose moved to her room, and looked for something to wear. It took her longer than usual, because she realized she should probably not wear her usual black-centric wardrobe. Finally she settled on some jeans, she hadn't worn jeans in a long time, but they still fit, and she was actually quite comfortable in them. Next she thought of the weather and slipped a plain white V-neck. Her hair was up in a high bun, and she added a very minimal amount of makeup, just enough to disguise of her dark circles and bruises. Then she added a pair of vintage black sunglasses.

"I'm ready."

His eyes floated to her casual attire, but he didn't say anything. "Let's go then."

* * *

They walked down the hall, and she reluctantly grabbed onto his arm, so that they could to side along apparate to his loft. He didn't take long once they got there to get his things together. She only had a few minutes to look around, and it proved extremely interesting. For one, all of his books, to which he has a great many, are alphabetized on the beautiful wooden bookshelf where they lived. All of the books are used, and had scratches all over them. While he was shrinking his bed to take with him, she took one of his books off the shelf, and looked at it. It was an older book on anatomy, but after examination she found highlighted sections, and his familiar handwriting in the margins. Rose remembered it from the prefect schedules he used to give to her the first of every month back at Hogwarts. Considering the way everything was clean and tidy it took her slightly by surprise that he would not only buy so many used books but then write in them. It just didn't seem to match up.

After putting the book back where she found it, she glanced around, edging towards the kitchen. She had expected all black furniture, and walls, but then she figured from the look of his things that the apartment had come furnished. Rose saw that he had a few things in his cabinets, much more than she did anyway, but nothing that would perish in his absence. Apparently he was use to leaving at a moments notice, though he seemed to give her shit for being the same way.

The most interesting thing she discovered was he didn't have a single photo around anywhere. Even when she took a peek in his bedroom she saw nothing. Not a picture of him with his parents, or with the guys, or even a single shot showing he might have at one point dated anyone. This lead to the question: was he gay, straight, asexual or an antisocial sociopath?

Any of those options were perfectly fine with her, but now it was a small side mission, nothing deep, but something to discover to give her something to think about other than everything else.

"Come on," He said grabbing a gym bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

Rose followed behind him and then waited for him to lock the door. Resting against the door, she folded her arms and sighed. Then he put out his arm for her to take. Making a face, she took it, gripping him as loosely as possible.

They stopped by the coffee shop to get him a coffee, and a bagel. She got a coffee too, but almost didn't, because he kept passive aggressively checking his watch. Rose was going to be nice and leave, but he was being such a prick about it that she took longer to get whipped cream on her coffee and a croissant.

"What?" She asked coyly, trying to hide her smirk and failing. "You gotta problem?"

"Nope," He smacked his lips.

"Just making sure… because you _seem_ like you have a problem."

Scorpius ignored her, and briskly moved through the security.

"And if you have a problem, you know since we live together now, we can talk about it." She continued, knowing it was bothering him; by the way his back kept straightening.

He clenched his cheeks, making his cheekbones stand out.

"Because we can talk about this Malfoy. I'm _really_ into open lines of communication."

Still he kept quiet, though when she wasn't looking he sighed to himself. They moved into the empty elevator and she snickered to herself.

"What?" He questioned glaring at her.

"You are _so_ mad."

"_No. I'm. Not_."

Laughing under her breath, she nodded, "Sure you aren't."

"Are you a child?!" He said exasperated, thinning his lips.

"Are you 85?" She shot back.

He shook his head and charged out of the elevator as soon as it opened. She thought it was amusing as hell. If she was perfectly honest she really didn't care what he thought of her. From the moment he had walked into the interrogation room hours earlier, he had made it perfectly clear that this was business, and that there would be no-nonsense. But that just made her want to bust his balls more. Rose had grown up in a huge family, telling her she couldn't or shouldn't do something just made her want to do it that much more.

Though she did decide not to heckle him at his actual desk. After all she wasn't really sure this was going to work. Okay so maybe no one noticed that she was sitting next to him while he worked, but surely she did know some people in his office that would be curious about why she was there. Rose didn't even want to think about what she would say outside of the office. The thought of referring to Scorpius as anything deeper than an acquaintance made her want to vomit.

Yes she did know for a fact that when he loosened up, he was quite a magnificent snogger, and good at a few other things as well… but clearly it had been a while since he had loosened up. Maybe it was the pressure of his family name riding on him or the prospect of falling short of becoming a high-ranking Auror. Whatever the reason, Scorpius Malfoy had a stick up his arse.

"Today I'm just going to do research, and going through these files, tomorrow I'll go out and re-interview some people."

She nodded, dropping into the chair next to his desk. "Fine."

"What are you going to do?" He asked anxiously.

Rose took a second considering her options before answering. "I'll just sit here…"

"And do what exactly?"

"I can just sit here." She said with raised eyebrows, before taking a bite of her croissant.

He frowned, "Quietly?"

"Despite my utter joy and privilege to terrorize you, I'm 24 years old and understand that I am in an establishment of business." She said in a cold composed tone.

Scorpius gave her a dirty look, before sitting down. "Fine."

* * *

For two hours they didn't say anything to one another. True to her word Rose didn't say anything. She pulled out her notepad and occasionally jotted down a few notes, but other than that she stayed perfectly quiet. Scorpius forgot she was there for the most part, but then she scooted her chair over and started looking over the file he was looking at.

"It was the grandmother," She told him after analyzing the information.

"Did I say you could look at this?"

"No, but I'm a person, not an object," She feigned a wince, but couldn't hide the smirk on her face. "I really don't need your permission to do anything."

Scorpius smiled at that, but closed the file regardless. "You aren't permitted to look at these."

"But, I'm shadowing you, and I'm supposed to be pretending to be working on the cases. So why don't you actually use me?"

"I'm hungry," He put the file back in the box and sealed it. "Food?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine Malfoy… Detach and distract."

Rising, Rose followed behind him, and soon they were waiting outside the elevator lift. "Soooo where do you want to eat?"

"Restaurant across the street." He answered easily, not looking at her.

She laughed under her breath. "Merlin, you're boring."

"… _Boring_?" He scoffed.

"I bet you go to that dinner every day for lunch, and I bet you get the same thing."

"No…" He glanced at her with a smirk. "Sometimes, I switch it up and get the club sandwich _instead of_ a hamburger and fries."

Rose snickered at that. "Wow, look at you being all impulsive."

"I live dangerously Weasley," He retorted dryly.

Rose stepped into the elevator, Scorpius followed, but right before the doors shut, James stopped it. Her heart jumped into her throat when she realized she had completely forgotten about James. James would be able to see through this. No one else would look that closely at her life and choices, but James would. He would know just from one look at her face, just how full of shit this whole plan was.

"Rose where the hell have you been?" James asked, a worried expression on his face, "… And what's with your hair?"

"Um… I was just looking for a change." She replied gulping nervously, trying to keep her face straight.

James eyes scanned her looking for signs of distress, when he didn't see anything; his brown eyes darted to Malfoy and the amount of space between them. "What are you doing with Malfoy?"

She considered lying and saying that they were just riding the elevator together, but Rose knew this lie wouldn't hold up for long. "I'm shadowing him, new assignment."

"Why didn't you mention it yesterday?" James said in disbelief.

"I didn't get it yet. It was last-minute, they asked a few other people before me. It's an in-depth exclusive." She faked a laugh, "I have to follow dear Malfoy around for three months, to see what it's like to be an Auror."

"Three months?!" James scoffed in astonishment. "Doesn't that seem a bit of an overkill?"

Rose shrugged, "It was better than the rest of the stuff that was offered to me."

James still didn't seem to believe her, but he didn't have much of an alternative. "Well I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah." She lied nodding with a smile.

Once the elevator opened, James gave them one last look before walking out to his floor. The doors closed, again, and she fell back against the wall, letting out a long breath.

Scorpius said, "Do you think he believed you?"

"Nope."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to have to come up with something… He's too smart to believe it." Rose told him.

Scorpius said, "Well… You can't tell him the truth."

"But I also can't lie to him. He's my best friend… I'll just get my uncle to clear me telling him."

"I don't think it will be that simple." Scorpius warned her, as the door opened and they moved to walk out. "There's procedure and the less people know the better."

Rose nodded grimly, "I get that, and I respect it, but it's James. If I don't give him at least a vague summary he will dig for more information, and he will find it."

"Well then you'll just have to sell that you are in this for a story." He said carelessly.

"_Um_… I think you're forgetting something there _Scorpy,_" She smacked her lips angrily, "Working with you is only one part of this plan. The other part is pretending that," Rose pointed between them, "there is something going on _here_."

Rose thought, judging by the look on his face, that he was trying, really hard, to forget part two of the arrangements. "_Oh_."

"Yeah, _oh_." She mocked, shaking her head. "Three months is a long time, eventually I'll have to run into my family. Albus can make everyone else believe that we have a cute budding romance, but there's no way in hell we're going to make James believe it."

Scorpius tilted his head in thought. "We'll worry about that when we get there."

"Great philosophy." Rose shot at him darkly, "That's really going to get you far in life…'_Let's just put off all problems, until they become big enough to ruin your life.'_"

"Glad we're on the same page Weasley," He said opening the door for her and leaving the Ministry.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

_I want to thank my lovely beta for helping me out with this story!_ I will post the next chapter on Thursday. _Thank you all for reading and reviewing!_


	5. Don't Bring Me Down

_You're lookin good just like a snake in the grass,_

_One of these days you're gonna break your glass._

**-Electric Light Orchestra- **

* * *

"So, I've been good the past three days," Rose began with undertone of annoyance, "Would you agree?"

Scorpius pretended to not hear her.

"And since I haven't stepped even a toe out of line," She continued like he was listening intently, "And how I can't speak to my cousin, or see anyone without you breathing down my neck, do you think you could let me, at least, help you with your case load?"

"No." He replied flatly, not even looking up.

"Look, I'm an investigative reporter," She started leaning forward, pressing her hands together, "This is what I do. I solve puzzles, and see how everything fits. I could actually help you, instead of sitting here doing nothing."

Scorpius wet his lips. "Why don't you read a book or something?"

"I've gotten through all the books on my book shelf that I've been wanting to read. All fifteen of them."

"Well, looks like tomorrow you'll have to go get some new ones." He grinned forcibly before looking away.

"Scorpius," She spat through gritted teeth, "I'm trying to be reasonable over here -"

"And I'm trying to do my work, _over here_." He mocked gesturing to himself. "Just take a nap, or something."

Rose let out a howl of frustration, gripping her hair harshly. "I didn't almost die, to have to endure this… This was not the reason I survived… I didn't survive being murdered…. to sit in a claustrophobic cubical, _with you_."

He glanced over at her, and shrugged. "You'll be fine."

"Sure! Sure you think that, you pompous, arrogant, overgrown git." She shifting back in her chair, and giving him a murderous look.

"Well if it isn't the one that got away!" Damon exclaimed, clutching his heart as if it couldn't take any more pain.

Rose gave him a sour look. "Well hello Damon. Tell me, what's life like on the outside? Is it nice?"

"What the bloody hell are you doing on this side of the Ministry Rosie?" He smirked, leaning his good-looking form on the office frame.

"I'm supposed to be on an in depth assignment on Scorpius Malfoy, but he's being a royal dick." Rose informed him despite the dirty looks she was getting from Scorpius.

"In depth assignment?" Damon smirked coyly adjusting his tie, "On Malfoy?...You of all people should have known this would be a dry mission Rose. After all, there's nothing impulsive, wild, or out-of-the-ordinary about Scorpius Malfoy. He's as straight laced as they come."

"Yeah," She scowled, crossing her legs, "I've been getting that impression."

"But," Damon's smirk grew, as he eyed his best friend, "If you get some firewiskey in this guy, and …all …that …just fades away."

Scorpius glared at him. "Don't you have some criminal's to track down?"

"I'm in between cases right now," He glanced at Rose suggestively, "And in between women too, if you're wondering."

"Why?" Rose stood up cockily, inches away from Damon, "Are you offering for me to be up next?"

"Alright, enough." Scorpius interjected immediately.

Rose fixed Damon's tie and sat down with a smirk of her own. "Always a pleasure Damon."

"My biggest regret you are," He bent down and kissed her hand, despite her laughing at him for doing so. "Oh how I wish I would have snogged you on the couch instead of Kayla Harlin."

"Well, as flattering as that is," Rose leaned forward lowering her voice, "I think my then fiancée would have had a problem with that."

Damon shrugged, rolling his eyes and waving his hand dismissively. "I could have taken him. You two broke up less than a year later anyway."

Rose's joking manner lessened. Scorpius saw the twitch of pain she hid before she leaned back in her chair with a grin. "I'm sure you could have."

"Anyway," Damon gave Scorpius a firm glance. "We still on for drinks with the boys this weekend?"

"Nope," Scorpius frowned. "Potter wants me to pull a double."

Damon's face scrunched up in confusion. "What did you do to piss him off?"

Scorpius shrugged as if to say pick a reason. "Not a clue."

"Well then we'll expect you next week," Damon gave Rose one last look. "And of course you are always invited Rosita. It's after all not a true W3 reunion without you. You are after all our house cat."

Rose laughed, her mood lightening back up. "I will keep that in mind Damon."

* * *

Damon walked away with his usual swagger, drawing female attention as he went. Scorpius watched out of the corner of his eye as Rose snorted and shook her head at his disappearing figure. A small seed of curiosity grew on Scorpius's face, when he caught Rose looking at her left hand, wedding finger with this foreign look on her face.

She stayed silent for the rest of his shift. It was only three hours. They'd already had lunch, and he'd already finished most of his work before Damon stopped by, but he couldn't help but notice how she didn't ask him again to let her help. She seemed to distracted. At first he thought he might have been over thinking it, but the longer he thought about it, the more it fit.

Her file had mentioned that she'd never been married, but had lived with someone briefly at the beginning of her twenties. There was nothing criminal or financially draining about it, so there was no other mention of it.

The way she brought it up to Damon wasn't the way she would bring it up if she had ended on good terms with her ex. Though, she didn't do the typical girl thing, and trash him, at the same time Scorpius could see whatever he had done had left a scar or two. Damon wouldn't have known they'd broken up if it wasn't a big deal. Scorpius knew that Damon didn't find out about relationship gossip unless everyone else knew.

After three days with her he had found a few truly strange details about her, and this was just another thing on the list of things that he didn't understand. He had known all about Rose through school, and being best friends with Albus, but she wasn't quite what he thought. Though it was petty, he assumed that she had everything easy, and just woke up looking the way she did. Once seeing her early morning routine, and what she did in her spare time, she seemed more real…

"I have to do something tonight by the way."

"What go home and stay in your flat like a good girl?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I have to go over my grams house…Even you can't ban me from seeing her. She's a muggle."

"What do you have to do?"

"_Vis-it… her._" Rose said slowly as if he was slow, "I go to see her once a week."

His eyebrows lifted and he said, "What?...Every week?"

"Yeah. I always go….If you want me to ditch my gram, you're crazy."

"No…" He scoffed, "I'm not a horrible person. You can see your grandmother."

Rose shifted up out of her seat, "Let's go then."

"What are you going to tell her?" Scorpius asked curiously while they began to walk out of his office.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something." She smirked.

* * *

An hour later they were in the middle of her grandmothers living room, and Scorpius had never looked more miserable than he did at that moment.

"Come on Scorpius, you promised you would play along." Rose teased.

"I'm not doing this stretching thing…" He said through gritted teeth.

Rose gave him a playful look. "It's called Yoga, and I do this with my grams every week. You were the one that said it must be easy if I do it."

"Yes, I did, but -"

"So what? Chicken." Rose baited him knowingly.

His competitive edge kicked in, and he gave her a dark look. "Fine…Fine."

"Are we all set?" Her grandmother asked, her 80's sweatband keeping her bushy hair back.

"Yes grams," Rose smiled at the woman.

Her grandmother popped in the DVD and relaxed onto her mat. The lady on the tape grinned, "Welcome, today we begin in Childs pose."

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" He muttered under his breath as he lowered himself to the ground.

Rose laughed, "Just get over it. You're trying something new."

"Okay, now we move into downward facing dog."

Scorpius was in hell. Literally in hell. How did Rose trick him into this? Oh yes, she had the nerve to tell her grandmother that he was a Yoga enthusiast, and that he insisted to come with her.

Yes, it was a good excuse, because there would be no follow up questions required. Still he found himself furious that she had done this. Only when he started doing the moves did he find the humor in it.

"Okay, there are modified moves, so feel free to use if you aren't comfortable." The lady spoke clearly.

"Did you hear that?" Rose whispered so only Scorpius could hear her.

He turned and snorted, "Yep, I'm good." Scorpius, of course he was lying, his body was fit, but not that flexible. Once he glanced over at how easily she was doing it he was about to try harder to out do her, when he became distracted by something else.

Rose was wearing these little shorts and a narrow little tank top, flexing her toned body. He knew she was attractive; he would have to be blind to not see it, but so far despite nearly walking in when she was changing, twice, he had managed to turn it off for the most part.

Forcing himself to look away, he just listened to the polite middle-aged blond woman on the video, and tried his best to make his body adjust. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, and after a while it was actually kind of relaxing. It was essentially; intense stretching, and once they finished he felt less stressed.

"Well you did well!" Her grandmother congratulated him, while Rose went to the bathroom. "I'll be honest…I didn't really believe Rose. A tall strapping young man like you interested in Yoga seemed a bit far fetched, but you did well."

Unable to do anything else under her gaze, he blushed. "Thank you, Mrs. Granger."

"Of course," She smiled warmly, "So sit down, tell me about yourself."

"Um…I work at the Ministry."

"That's nice." She said, nodding.

Scorpius racked his memory. "…You are a dentist correct?"

"Yes! My husband is as well. You have very nice teeth."

Laughing, Scorpius blushed again. "Thank you. I brush and floss every day."

"I wish more people would," She sighed, "You have no idea how many people don't even brush their teeth regularly."

He cringed. "That's disgusting. That's just basic hygiene."

"Oh I've heard it all." Mrs. Granger nodded in agreement. "People don't take care of themselves half as well as they should, but enough about that. How well do you know my granddaughter?"

Rose, who had been standing listening to their conversation in the hallway for the past few minutes, laughed to herself at her grandmother's question. She was about to go save him from answering when Granddad Granger put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. He had no facial expression, but she could see the sixty five year old man's eyes twinkle.

"Let's see what he has to say." He suggested in his usual still voice.

Rose gave him a look of pure amusement, and turned to lean against the hallway wall with him. "As you wish."

"Um…" Scorpius scratched the side of his jaw thoughtfully. "I've known her since we were little. I used to play Quidditch with her cousin Albus, before we started Hogwarts and then I knew her all seven years of schooling. We also were Head Boy and Head Girl in our seventh year."

"So you've been friends for a long time…" Mrs. Granger mused, "What do you think of her?"

Scorpius was caught off guard. He was expecting her to ask him about their relationships status or his intentions with her grandmother, not an actual honest question.

"You mean in terms of…?"

"Just in general what do you think of her? I always hear different things about her, and I was curious what you thought."

"Ummm…" Scorpius tried to think of something nice to say quickly, but then a few things popped into his head. "She's smart…It's infuriating, but she's very sharp."

Her grandmother smiled. "Yes that she gets directly from her mother."

"And she's…stubborn." He commented.

"That, she gets from her father."

"I can imagine." Scorpius tried to think of another thing. Three things should be enough. "Umm confident."

Mrs. Granger said, "She's been like that since she was born. Never could tell that girl where to go. Very strong willed."

"That I completely agree with."

"Though I do worry about her," She admitted in a guilty voice. "She's always working. I hardly hear about her having a boyfriend or anything, and I'm sure she doesn't have the time…I just worry."

Scorpius smiled, his face lightening up, as he leaned forward. "I'm sure she's fine."

"I know. I just worry, she's my only granddaughter."

"She's fine. Of all people I wouldn't worry about Rose."

They shared a look, shortly after Rose walked into the room, her granddad following after her. He checked her expression and couldn't tell whether she had heard or not. Most people were dead give a ways, but she wasn't. Maybe it was growing up with an Auror as her father, but she just looked like she had a pleasant conversation with her granddad, nothing special.

"Ready to go?" She asked and he nodded.

Rose hugged her grandparents and Scorpius shook both of their hands. "Thank you for having me Mr. and Mrs. Granger."

"You are more than welcome," Her grandmother said, walking them out of the house. "Come back anytime."

"Actually, he'll probably be coming with me from now on if that's okay Grams," Rose mentioned, trying to fight of how uncomfortable this suggestion made her feel.

He grandparents shut their front door and Rose and Scorpius began to walk down the block to apparate. Scorpius was wearing sweats, which looked incredibly weird to her. He'd always been so…proper looking. Obviously by his muscles and fit figure he had to exercise at some point, but seeing him in those clothes looked weird.

"How do you even know what a dentist is?" Rose asked him while she adjusted her gym bag.

"I took three years of Muggle Studies and… I read." He grinned, tucking his thumbs into his pockets. "You're lucky I travel with muggle clothes, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to embarrass me like that."

Rose stopped him with a choked laugh, "Oh come on! You know you had fun! Don't lie to me!"

A weary smile perked up on his face. "I'm not. It wasn't fun."

"You are so full of it," She sneered, "I know you had fun. You just want to be all professional at all times."

"Which is important," He reminded her teasingly, "Because that keeps you safe."

"I'm fully aware of my safety concerns." She rolled her eyes.

Scorpius checked his watch, "Is there a grocery store around your flat?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Because I'm sick of ordering out food."

"Well, I've got news for you Scorpius, I don't have any skills in the kitchen."

His light eyebrows raised, "Did I say you'd have to cook anything?"

"No…but you grew up with a staff…I'm assuming you didn't-"

"Where I'm concerned," He smirked, towering over her, "Never assume anything."

Rose tensed, when she realized how close he stood to her.

He laughed, putting out his arm. "Come on Weasley."

"Pompous arse." She growled under her breath, before latching onto his arm.


	6. King of Anything

_Who cares if you disagree_  
_You are not me_  
_Who made you king of anything_

**-Sara Bareilles-**

* * *

"What are you making?" Rose asked suspiciously, peeking over from the kitchen counter.

"Just pipe down, and wait a minute," He fired back rolling his eyes at her impatience.

Rose threw her hands up. "Fine! Be cryptic, that's not new or anything."

"Sarcasm? Wow _that's new._" He countered, adding a few spices to the pot.

"Where did you learn to cook?"

Scorpius shrugged, "My mum loved to cook. So when I was little she used to make it our thing."

Rose thought that was simply adorable. Picturing little blonde Scorpius helping his mother in the kitchen melted her heart ever so slightly. It was probably cuter than it would be on anybody else because Scorpius didn't seem to be especially sentimental. His mother had died when he was younger, Rose knew that, but she wasn't sure what age it happened. He never really talked about himself, but it was clear by how well the food smelled that he kept learning how to cook even after she died. Distantly, Rose wondered if he thought of her every time he did it. She wondered if he felt like he was more connected to his mother because of it. Though she would never ask that. The less she knew about Scorpius the better. They weren't supposed to be friends, he was just assigned to protect her, that's it.

"Here," He handed her a plate, and set his own next to hers.

"Not bad," Rose lied, as her taste buds practically screamed with delight as she took another bite of the juicy stake.

He smirked, "Do you inhale food you find barely tolerable?"

She was too busy eating to answer so she gave him a dirty look.

"Why don't you cook?" He asked remembering her grandmothers delicious food.

Rose snorted, "You remember how bad I was in potions?" She swallowed the bits of corn in her mouth. "I'm awful at following directions."

"I've noticed." He replied wryly.

They ate in silence. It wasn't the usual awkward silence, but the silence that came from eating a meal together. She pushed her hair off of her back to drape it over her shoulder.

"It was good," She told him after a second of hesitation, "Are you done?"

"What are you doing?"

She frowned in confusion. "Doing…the …dishes?"

"I cooked-" He began attempting to take them from her.

"What are you on?" Rose scoffed maneuvering around him, "You made the food, and I clean the dishes. It's called equity."

Scorpius was confused. He had never met a girl who thought it was a natural reaction to help clean up. Then again he rarely cooked for other people so maybe this was a normal response. Still he found the gesture ...odd.

"It's equal rights Scorpius," Rose informed him as she moved into the kitchen. "I am a feminist, which means I believe in equal rights for both men and women. I don't think it's fair that men should have to pay for everything or open doors for women. I think it's stupid. Why should a male be expected to pay for me?"

He eyed her curiously. "I don't know."

"Do you pay for dates when you go out?"

"I don't date." He replied flatly, sipping his water.

Rose paused and said, "Well, if you did, you would wouldn't you?"

"Yes, because it's how I was raised."

"See that's bullshit." Rose told him, "I understand that it was to be honorable and I appreciate that line of thought, but it's stupid."

Scorpius leaned back and watched the annoyance grow on her face. "So you're saying if you were in mortal danger you wouldn't want a guy to save you?"

"_No_. I'm saying I want it to be an option, not a necessity. Just like it should be an option that someone could come and save you. I just don't like that women are supposed to wait for some guy to save them. We should be able to fight back and do something. We should be able to save ourselves."

"Is that why you didn't want some guarding you?"

She nodded firmly, "I'm perfectly capable taking care of myself."

"You are?" He asked in disbelief.

"My cousins were always worried that I couldn't handle myself. So to prove them wrong I took part in training to be an Auror." Rose told him as she wiped the soapsuds off her hands.

Scorpius stood up, "Did you pass?"

Rose smiled but didn't answer. "_The point is._ I understand why you are here, but the only reason I'm not rioting is because you are still able to do your job. If your entire job was to protect me…I'd lose my mind."

"Which is why you want to help me with my cases."

"Now that you understand…does that mean you'll let me?" Her eyes grew big as she tried to do her best impression of a puppy dog face.

He shook his head; with a wide smirk he headed to the bathroom and called, "Nope," over his shoulder.

Rose let out a low growl of frustration and kicked her cabinet hard sending shots of throbbing pain up her foot.

* * *

For two days, Rose begged and pleaded for him to let her do something, anything, but he refused. Instead she began to bring tedious but time wasting activities to his work. At one point she finished an entire puzzle of the London eye. It was infuriating, but she had a plan. If she could get the okay from her uncle than he really had nothing to stand on to stop her from helping him. The trouble was, Scorpius was always there, ready to cockblock any move she made. So, she improvised.

"I have to pee."

He scowled. "I'm almost done with this page."

"Listen, my bladder is going to explode." She told him firmly. "I'll be back in five minutes. If I'm not, by all means, come after me."

Scorpius moved to follow her, but since she tied his shoe laces together, he fell backwards, knocking his chair and my chair ontop of him.

Grinning, she headed to her uncles office and knocked. "Uncle Harry? Can I talk to you a tick?"

He glanced up from the report he was reading. "Sure."

"I want to help Malfoy with his case load. My job is quite similar to his; I spend most of my days trying to figure out the motive, means and who the suspects are. I can help him AND it will help me sell that I'm actually doing what we are saying I'm doing."

Adjusting his glasses, he sighed. "I can see your point."

"I only make a point to ask because…" She feigned sympathy. "Malfoy's very by the book and I think he wants to let me assist him, but doesn't want to step on any toes."

"I'll send him a note validating your request."

"You are fan-tastic!" She told him, rushing over, pushing herself up on his desk and promptly kissing his cheek. "I knew you were my favorite uncle for a reason."

He laughed, "Bye Rose."

Closing her uncle's office door, she saw an enraged looking Scorpius headed her way. Cringing, she ducked into the ladies bathroom that was conveniently located just behind her.

* * *

Scorpius wanted to wring her scrawny little neck. Of course he had underestimated her. He didn't expect her to just put up with doing nothing forever, but he had hoped that she would keep it together as long as possible. It seemed that her impatience had gotten the better of her and the worse of him. By the time he managed to pull himself off the floor and chased after her, his pulse was racing and his temper was at its peak. Was she 12?!

He caught up to her just after she dove into the woman's bathroom and waited outside for her. If she thought he was going to just start letting her go off on her own and have no consequences for humiliating him, she was wrong.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Malfoy," Harry Potter began, "Good, glad I caught you. I've been meaning to talk to you about Rose."

"Yes…I have a few choice words to put in my report." Scorpius replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, she just talked to me and explained your hesitation to have her look at your cases and I'm giving you clearance to let her." He told him with a shrug, "So don't worry about it."

The veins in Scorpius's neck became quite visible. "…What?"

"Don't worry about it," Harry repeated, checking his watch. "If you have any problems let me know." Then he walked over to his brother-in-law's office to speak with him about something.

"_Fuck_," Scorpius spat under his breath.

The last thing he wanted was Rose interfering with his cases. Sure she was smart, and probably wouldn't be the worst person to be working with, but he didn't want to work with anybody. There was a reason he didn't work active duty, he didn't enjoy relying on other people like Damon and Albus did. Even when they played Quidditch, Scorpius felt uneasy trusting that his teammates would get the job done. Being Quidditch captain for five years had given him some degree of control over the situation and being friends with his teammates made it easier, but still the tension existed.

Rose wasn't an element he could control and he didn't really want to either. He wanted someone else to be in charge of her, someone who would be able to predict her actions and counter act them more efficiently than he seemed to be able to do. But he had taken the assignment and he didn't have it in him to quit. No, Scorpius just had to figure out a may to get through to her.

"Oh, hey," Rose smiled awkwardly as she walked out of the ladies room. "_Fancy_ seeing you here."

"Your uncle just stopped my for a chat with me." He snapped, glaring at her.

She feigned innocence. "Really? Imagine that."

"He said you can work with me, but here's the thing…I have to be the one to authorize that, since it's my case, I'm not authorizing anything. I take my job _very seriously." _He lowered his voice, and moved closer to her, his face red in anger. "You will sit there and do whatever you want to do, except work on a case. This isn't your department. I'm not going to let a reporter go rifling through my work…_Is that clear Weasley?"_

Rose gasped, surprised by the harsh tone he used. He'd been mean to her before, but she'd never seen him mad before. It was a bit scary, he was a good five inches taller than her and had fifty pounds on her, but she knew he wouldn't hurt her. For one, she could take him. For two…he would just never hurt her. So instead of the feeling staying it grew into something else, anger.

She wasn't a child. She wasn't someone he could just boss around, but he was in charge of her. He did have the power to move her to a safety house, and isolate her from everyone if he deemed it necessary. So as much as she truly wanted to beat the crap out of him, she had to play nice until she could find some leverage on him. Though she didn't know what leverage she could possibly get on him.

"You…You… are a horses arse Malfoy!" She growled finally, nearly running him over to get back to his office.

* * *

That night when they returned to her flat, Rose was still fuming. She'd been angry with him plenty of times over the course of their relationship, but she couldn't ever remember actually having to hold herself back from throttling his throat. The minute she got the opportunity she bolted into my room, and slammed the door. Yes, it was what she used to do as a teenager when she didn't get her way, but Rose didn't see what else she really could do.

Scorpius felt a rush of guilt when he heard her door slam. Yes, it was for her own good. Yes his job was to keep her safe and not make her happy, but he couldn't help, but feel he'd somehow been forced to act like his father. Something he never wanted and always fought against, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't just let her reign free. She was supposed to be in protective custody, not getting involved in criminal cases. Still there was this sneaky feeling inside of him, telling him he was handling this situation wrong. Checking to make sure she wasn't in the bathroom, he slipped into the shower and resigned himself to the fact that she would probably be mad at him for the rest of the week.

Too angry to eat dinner, Rose pulled off her clothes and just went to sleep in her underwear. At one point she brushed her teeth, and washed her face, but she was restless. She wanted to go in and scream at him, but she didn't. It was pointless, he was just as stubborn as she was and wouldn't see reason. She thought she'd never fall asleep from the amount of tossing and turning she had done, but eventually she did fall asleep.

Scorpius didn't have energy to set up his bed in the living room so he slept on the couch. They didn't have anything scheduled for the next day, so they could actually go the entire next day without speaking to one another.

It didn't feel right to him. He wanted to go in and talk to her now, but thought it would only upset her further. Running his hand through his bright blonde hair, he scowled. Sleep did find him, but until he had spent hours grueling himself over what he could and perhaps should have done differently.

* * *

The next morning, he heard a loud knocking on the door. Instantly he leapt to his feet with his wand out. He doubted that anyone actually intending to hurt Rose would bother with knocking, but he was half asleep and couldn't really process it. Rose came out of her room, her hair sticking up and her eyes wide with confusion.

"What's going on?"

"Someone's knocking on your door." Scorpius said, "Are you expecting anyone?"

She shook her head, "No…"

"I'll answer it," He declared, walking forward and opening the door. Scorpius only opened it halfway. "Potter?"

James eyes narrowed on Scorpius, his lips thinning when he saw that Scorpius was only wearing the boxers he had slept in. "Where's Rose?"

"Oh, hi James." Rose breathed nervously, her eyes wide in anxiety. "Um, what's up?"

"What's up? WHAT'S UP?" James repeated furiously, pushing past Scorpius. "What the hell is going on?"

Rose cringed, trying to sound believable, "Well…I didn't know how to tell you…We are um... living together."

"What?! Is he homeless?! Why would you ever? Wh-?" James stopped, pointing at Rose and him, "Youuuu…Are…together?!"

"I mean…" Rose attempted poorly, bringing her hands together repeatedly.

"Yes," Scorpius replied bluntly, his tone firm and unwavering. "We are."

James opened his mouth and closed it. Rose was internally freaking out. Even when James met her boyfriends, he'd never reacted like this. This was a whole different degree that she wasn't sure how to process. Especially since, she had only thought to put on a pair of shorts before coming out of her room instead of real clothes.

"I'm sorry," Rose apologized quickly, and awkwardly, "I didn't know how to tell you. It just happened so quickly…"

"I don't believe you," James told her bluntly, "I know you. You've only ever lived with one person. You wouldn't just move in with…" He paused to laugh, "Scorpius Malfoy without talking to somebody about it."

"She didn't want her father to find out," Scorpius supplied, keeping his tone even, though his jaw was rigid.

James scoffed, laughing to himself.

"James?" Rose grimaced, stepping forward barefoot. "You okay?"

"Oh no, I'm great." He insisted. "I also know the pair of you are _full-of-shit_ and I'm going to prove it."

Rose didn't like the sound of that. "Prove it …_how_?"

"Since the cats out of the bag, you wouldn't mind coming with Albus and I for dinner. We were actually looking for another couple."

Scorpius tried not wince at the word. "Well we-"

"Unless of course you aren't dating and there's something else going on here that you would like to tell me." James interjected sharply.

"We'd be happy to go," Rose said with a fake smile. "Right…honey?"

Scorpius nodded, though she saw his fists clenching. "Of course."

James gave them one last look, before shaking his head. "We are meeting at the Red Elephant at 7. I'll see you both there…I can't wait to hear more about this…_New relationship_."

"Can't wait," Rose said, shutting the door after him. She then slid down it and gave Scorpius a look. "How the hell are we supposed to pull this off?"

Scorpius rubbed his face in irritation. "I'll owl Albus."

"How the hell is that supposed to help?" Rose demanded.

Scorpius didn't have an answer. Instead he put on some clothes and owled Albus anyway. They could use all the help they could get.

"We're doomed." Rose bellowed sinking down to the floor, clutching her face in pure agony.


	7. Cover Up

_There's lights that line these halls_  
_That beckon us to stay_  
_A glimmer in the distance_

**-Imagine Dragons- **

* * *

"There's no way this is going to work." Albus told Scorpius bluntly, sitting on the edge of Roses couch.

Scorpius groaned, "You _have_ to think of something."

"Oh, no, I'm not saying you two don't look like you could date," Albus corrected, "I'm saying, no one is going to believe you two are madly in love if she wouldn't even look at you."

"Well what do you want me to do?"

James smacked him, "Apologize. Idiot."

"You don't even know what happened!"

"No I don't, but I know you Scorpius." He said simply, "Both of you are probably wrong, but I'll tell you two things about Rose (1) She'll stay mad longer than you will. (2) She takes apologies better than you do."

Scorpius would have argued, but they didn't have the time. "Okay well what exactly do I say?"

"Do I look like your life coach?" Albus scoffed walking into the kitchen to grab a snack, "I don't know! Just think about why she's mad and follow up on that."

He curled his lips back, and grunted.

"You've apologized at some point in your life, Scorpius. I don't know why you're looking like it's pulling teeth."

"Because…with her it is exactly like pulling teeth."

"Oh get over it." Albus rolled his eyes. "Rose is a piece of cake compared to what I have to deal with."

"Yes, but you are willingly involved with that vulture." Scorpius shot back.

"Don't call her that," Albus told him warningly.

Scorpius walked into the next room. "_A lot nicer then what Damon's being saying_…"

"DOESN'T MATTER!" Albus called after him.

Scorpius knocked on Rose's bedroom door in defeat.

"What?" She wanted to know.

"Can I come in?"

Even through the door he could hear her sigh. "…I guess."

"Look," He began, closing the door behind him. "I'm sorry."

"Surrrrre you are." Rose rolled her eyes in disbelief. "You always think you're right."

He clenched his fists and fought to control his temper. Scorpius never had this much trouble, but she seemed to go out of her way to provoke him. "Can you just stop for a second? Please?"

She tossed her dress and quickly pulled on a long over shirt. She then, sat on the edge of her bed and looked up at him. "Well?"

"I understand that this isn't... easy... for you." He started, twitching slightly. "And I'm not trying to make this any harder on you. I'm just trying to do my job and the reason I'm keeping you away from the cases is because I don't want to get you anymore involved in criminal activities than you already are."

Rose snickered at that. "I guess…but you could be less of a dick about it."

"I'm trying okay? Do you think I normally apologize?" Scorpius questioned, shaking his head in irritation.

"No, you don't seem to be the type." Rose acknowledged. Then she took a second to look him over before relenting. "Fine. We're fine. I know we have to act all lovey dovey tonight…but can you just tone down the prick tendencies? Otherwise it's going to be really hard for me to be pretend I have feelings for you that aren't hatred."

"Like what?" He replied.

Rose shrugged, "Like…everything. Just try to act like you would if we actually were in love."

Scorpius shifted uncomfortably, leaning back against her door.

"You have…been in love before …_right?_" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes." He said firmly. "But it wasn't recent."

"Well me neither, so just think of normal things people do and I'll go along with it."

Scorpius nodded, "That sounds reasonable…"

"Why…do you keep looking away from me?"

"You're not wearing pants... I'm being polite."

She giggled under her breath and shook her head. "Oh-kay…I'll be out in ten minutes then."

"Okay," He said opening the door and heading back into the living room. Albus it seemed had left after hearing no screaming or breaking glass.

* * *

This could be a total disaster, but there was nothing he really could about it. They were stuck. As long as they could just play along this one evening then they might be able to make it through this. In two months she had her trial date. They had made it this far; if they just worked together they had a chance to finish without murdering each other.

"Okay," Rose told him, an undertone of anxiety clear in her tone. "I'm ready."

He turned to face her. It was more general with him; he put on black trousers and a white dress shirt. Nothing spectacular or note worthy. Rose on the other hand, clearly had put more effort into this. She wore a deep blue two-strap, v-neck dress, and had done something to not straight her hair, but make it look sleeker. Though he saw light make-up on her face, he knew she must have put some on from the pop of color on her normally pale lips.

"Alright," He held out his arm, and she took it.

While they walked up to the restaurant Rose decided to give him a few pointers. "People in love can't keep their hands off of each other. Obviously you don't have to go that far, but just be conscious of distance between us."

"You think anyone will look _that_ closely?" He asked with concern.

"James is my best friend, closest cousin and he's a reporter. Yes it's for the Quidditch section, but he's observant as hell. If we don't at least try he'll know and he'll terrorize me until I tell him the truth."

"Okay, then we focus on the details."

"Exactly…_Oh Merlin_…I really hate Albus's girlfriend. I forgot we had to spend the night spending time with her."

Scorpius laughed, breaking the tension between them. "You know I think Al invited Damon and a plus one to buffer, so you probably won't have to talk to her at all."

"Wanna bet?" Rose whispered wryly, while they waited for the hostess to take them to their table.

* * *

Rose tried to keep calm, but her nerves were off the chart. She'd been in worse situations much worse than this, but at the time she'd been pretending to be somebody else. This time she was pretending to be herself and that seemed to be more difficult than it should have been. If she wasn't trying to fool James she'd be fine. Albus for instance would have been easy to fool. Yes, he was an Auror, but he knew next to nothing about what she was capable of. James knew her well and knew that there was no way she'd be living with someone and not tell at least him about it.

There was no way this was going to work. No way, whatsoever.

Still she tried not to jump when his arm came around her and curved around her waist. It was a natural thing for a guy to do, but she was having a difficult time relaxing.

"It will be fine Weasley," He whispered into her ear, more seductive than reassuring.

She nodded, and as soon as the hostess gestured to the table that was there's she forced herself to stop tensing up.

They slipped into their seats and Rose let out a low breath. Scorpius hesitated for a minute before rubbing her back with a snicker. "You are making this a bigger deal than you need to."

"Yeah?" Rose scoffed, "Well what's stopping James from telling my dad that we are together?"

Scorpius paled. "…I hadn't thought of that."

"I know you didn't…" Rose shook her head and let out another sigh. "Whatever. Let's not think about that…I'm overreacting and this will be fine." She forced a smile on her face.

"Here they come." Scorpius muttered standing up to greet Albus and his girlfriend Ashley.

She was pretty, not Scorpius's type, but still pretty nonetheless. Ashley was tall, almost as tall as Al in her heels, with long blonde hair, and fox like green eyes. At first he thought Rose might just not like her for an assortment of reasons. Maybe Rose was being protective over her cousin. Maybe she wasn't used to seeing Albus with a girlfriend. Maybe the girl was prettier than Rose and she was jealous.

The second Scorpius reached forward and shook her hand he knew that he'd been wrong and Rose was right, Ashley was a certified bitch. Her looks had nothing to do with it, though he had a feeling that she was the type of girl that insistently worked out and didn't eat very much. The way he knew she was a bitch though had do with the fact that when he went to shake her hand she looked confused and almost offended. His confusion was cleared with Damon stepped on the scene, with a lady in tow, and kissed her hand.

Rose laughed at his expression after she hugged Damon. "She expected you to kiss her hand."

"Why?" Scorpius asked quietly, turning his head away so there was no chance that the other people would hear.

"Because she thinks she's a princess." Rose told him in annoyance, though she had a bright smile on her face.

Albus, when no one was looking mouthed, _'sit closer_,' to them.

Rose complied shifted in her seat, arching her body into Scorpius and Scorpius draped his arm around the back of her chair like his father used to do when he sat next to his mother.

* * *

"Where are James and his date? I'm really looking forward to meeting him." Ashley asked, batting her eyelashes, pouting slightly.

"I'm sure he's just working late." Rose said kindly, though she was met by a brittle smile from Ashley.

"How is work going for you Rose?" She said in a honeyed voice.

Rose said, "Just fine…How about you? How is working for the Minister going?"

"Oh it's lovely. I get to meet so many interesting people during the day." Ashley replied airily.

"That's nice." Rose replied, not sure what else to contribute.

Damon snickered under his breath but feigned innocence when Albus shot him a dirty look.

The waitress came over and gave them an expectant look. Scorpius gave her an apologetic look. "We are still waiting on two people."

"Would you like to order any drinks until then?"

"Just water please," He answered, as did everyone but Damon and Ashley. He ordered spiked pumpkin juice, and she ordered some kind of fancy wine for the table. Wine that Rose was absolutely sure Ashley would not be paying for.

But still she kept her cool and pretended to look at her menu when really she knew what she was going to order. Scorpius saw her look over the line repeatedly and chuckled under his breath. Though she had no idea why he was laughing, she still elbowed him under the table.

"What?" He asked, his lips, just above her ear.

"Whatever you're laughing about. Stop." She said, hiding the giggle bubbling up in her throat.

"Ah huh, you don't want any wine?" He uttered almost inaudibly.

There was no need for him to be quiet, Damon, his clearly last minute date Claire, and Albus were all discussing a new that was just passed. But since he had said it so softly, Rose couldn't help but laugh. She knew what he was getting at without any other explanation.

"No…No…I'm good." She told him, shaking her head.

"What are you two talking about?" Ashley asked, with a catlike smile on her face.

Rose looked at her innocently. "Oh…_nothing_."

"I do find the pair of you interesting. I thought you were single Rose." She noted, with an undertone of suspicion. "And now I hear you two are living together. That's rather... fast."

"I think so too." James acknowledged sitting down in the empty seat and fixing his jacket. "I apologize for being tardy…My date didn't work out…"

"That's unfortunate," Ashley cooed, handing her hand to James in introduction. "I don't believe we have met, James I presume?"

He grinned and shook her hand much to Ashley's disappointment. "Nice to meet you…_What are you two laughing about_?" He questioned Rose and Scorpius sharply.

Rose raised her hands defensively, leaning into Scorpius without thinking about it, her face full of laughter. "Nothing. Nothing!"

"Then you wouldn't mind, telling us how this came to be." James countered, his arm sliding back to wrap around the side of his chair.

"Actually Albus set us up." Rose said, her face lightening at the idea.

Scorpius went along with it immediately. He nodded, "Yeah Al here thought we'd be a good match."

Albus sent the pair of them the most hateful look, which turned to pride once his older brother glanced at them. "Well...You know…I like to help the down trotted, helpless and single…"

"How long have you two been together?" Ashley asked.

"…Three months?" Rose asked Scorpius. "But we've been dancing around it for a bit….haven't we…hunny?"

Scorpius wanted to laugh at the sentimental look on her face and he knew that was why she was looking so sappy about it, but he held to it. If she wanted to play this game, he could play this game.

"Yes…_dear_," He stroked the side of her face with his knuckles, an intense look on his face.

"You two are idiots." Albus interjected, unable to stop himself.

Rose broke instantly, falling to the side laughing.

Scorpius addressed Ashley, though he was still shaking from laughter. "I apologize."

"Sorry," Rose breathed returning to the table, "What was the question?"

"Why so fast?" Ashley wanted to know.

The laughter died a bit on the sincerity of the question. Scorpius put his arm around Rose and thought of the only response that would work. "…I love her."

Rose swooned though she knew his words weren't true.

* * *

James still didn't look to be convinced, but he didn't say anything. The waitress came back and took their orders. Thankfully, the conversation shifted away from Rose and Scorpius, but not for long. Every once in a while though either James or Ashley, couldn't resist bringing their newfound love up. Scorpius found that the more natural his actions towards Rose seemed, the less the conversation came up.

A few minutes before their food was brought, Scorpius slipped his hand into Rose and interlocked their fingers. As soon as he did it, he realized how stupid it was, no one would probably notice it unless they looked under the table, but once he did it, he found it hard to take back. Not that she did anything wrong. Rose didn't give him a dirty look or even tense up, she just went with it, but that was what was odd about it.

He didn't mind holding her hand; he actually kind of liked it. It didn't make sense to him. Scorpius Malfoy hated PDA, and hated in general hated having to go out of his way to prove to the public that he enjoyed someone else's company to such a degree, but it seemed with Rose, even if they were just pretending he didn't mind.

Rose tried to shake the blush that was building on her cheeks, but she was having trouble.

She wasn't a 12-year-old girl. Boys and men alike had held her hand before. Honestly the gesture was simple and something she had done often over the years. It wasn't a big deal. It really wasn't. Hell, she could hold a strangers hand and it could mean absolutely nothing.

So why was she feeling like a 12 year old girl?

Six hours earlier she hated him…okay maybe she didn't hate him, but she didn't like him very much and now these ridiculous feelings were rising in her. It was probably just attraction. After all holding a good-looking person's hand, when their sitting close to you, pretending that they are completely into you is quite nice.

Quite nice indeed.

The smell of his cologne, and adorable he looked when he loosened up and laughed wasn't lost on her, but it was also just chemicals. Her body was just upset that she was nearly 25 and hadn't made any real attempts to repopulate the planet. It wasn't personal. They were the two least compatible people on the planet. It wasn't like she actually liked him as a person.

"Rose?" Scorpius released her hand and put his hand on her shoulder, the heat from his hand sending horrible little chills down her sides.

"Uh...Yeah?" She breathed in a higher pitch than she intended.

He frowned, "Your food, you haven't touched it."

She looked down and saw her chicken was indeed on her plate. Laughing, she gave him a smile, "Zoned out sorry."

"It's cool Rose," Damon sighed in mock sadness. "We all know you were picturing me naked…"

"I don't have to picture that," Rose reminded him dryly, "You forget when you and Albus decided to-"

"Oh Merlin," Albus blushed horribly, covering his face. "I'd forgotten about that."

"Yeah, I wish I could." Rose groaned with a disgusted face.

James chuckled loudly. "Not as bad as the time we strung him outside by his ankles."

Rose roared at that to the point where she almost choked on her food.

Albus glowered at James, "Yeah, that was a WONDER-FUL moment."

"You know you would have laughed if we had done it to Hugo." Rose told him accusingly.

"Yes but you didn't do it to Hugo did you? You two always ganged up on me." Albus pouted.

"Oh pooor baby Albus," Damon rolled his eyes. "What about the time you made all of Rose's clothes two sizes too big?"

"Yeah?" Rose chimed in, while the waitress took their empty plates, "what about that?"

Albus's eyebrows rose. "I believe you charmed the word, 'bitch,' on all of my blank t-shirts so I wouldn't be able to see it but everyone else could."

Rose laughed evilly, "But how clever was that?"

"I don't think we should use the word bitch." Ashley interrupted in a reasonable tone. "It makes women seem more like a thing or an object and easier to hit or demean."

"I don't think calling someone a bitch matters because I don't use it specifically on women." Rose replied in confusion, "I call men bitches, women bitches…. small children who like to eat all of the chocolate on Easter…" Her eyes narrowed at the memory. "I mean if a guy punched another guy would you be offended?"

She frowned. "Well…no, but-"

"_That's the problem_," Rose pointed in disappointment. "We ask for equality, but then it's perfectly okay to hit a man, but not to hit a woman, like we are fragile beings. We aren't. We can handle ourselves. In all reality we shouldn't hit anybody, or call anyone rude names, but we do and therefore if we are going to we should just use words like that on everybody so it's insulting everybody."

Scorpius shrugged at her logic, finding it …mostly sound, but had to hide his smirk at the look on Ashley's face. She looked so hurt that Rose hadn't blindly joined her team on this issue.

"So you're saying hitting women is okay?"

"Nooo," Rose said in a deliberately slow tone, "I'm saying we shouldn't hit anybody...How do we expect to be equal if we still expect to be held to a higher standard?"

Ashley sat up a little straighter, her chin jilting out. "_It sounds like internalized misogyny to me_…"

Rose took a second, and then let out a cold, cold laugh. Her whole body tensing in pure offense. "_Wait_," She held out her hand, "Are you telling me, that because I think men shouldn't be hit, raped or mistreated as much as I think women don't deserve to be hit, raped or mistreated that I hate women?"

Damon let out a low whistle in excitement, "It's about to be a girl fight."

"Oh no it's not." Rose smiled at him sweetly, "See because if I hit her and then don't proceed to hit every male at the table, then I'm being sexist instead of just not liking her and the comment she just made…"

Ashley's pale eyes narrowed and her plump lips thinned. "We are allowed to have different opinon's Rose."

"I'm aware of that."

Trying to be diplomatic, Scorpius said, "Okay why don't we talk about something else?"

Ashley it seemed wasn't done. She stated, as if Scorpius hadn't spoken, "Your opinion isn't the only one that matters Rose."

Rose mouth opened in fury and she glanced at Scorpius. It was involuntary, but he just paused before gesturing for her to go for it.

"Listen Ashley, I am a woman, I believe in woman's rights and I have protested on the rights of women to fight for us to get equal pay and everything that goes along with that. So just because I don't believe woman are better than men because we have had to go through more than them, doesn't mean I hate women. It means you are ignorant and narrow-minded."

Ashley's face became bright scarlet and Rose could see the other woman's nostrils flaring.

"Now I didn't want to make this personal, because yes, you are allowed to have your own opinions, and yes they can differ from mine. But that doesn't make it okay for you to be a bitch about it."

"Enough Rose," Albus said then he took his girlfriend by the hand, "We're going."

Ashley didn't fight him or protest she seemed just as ready to go.

* * *

"Fucking idiot." Rose spat glowering after her.

"I mean…she did have a few valid points." James attempted half-heartedly, trying to hide his amusement and failing.

"Yeah," Rose said sarcastically, "until she told me I hated women…It's like she thinks I'm crazy for believing nobody should HAVE to do anything because of gender roles or tradition."

"Simmer down there, little suffragette," Damon teased her. "I think you already handed the poor girl her arse on a platter."

"It was hysterical," Damon's date Claire piped in flashing Rose a smile.

Rose smiled in embarrassment, "Thanks…I didn't mean to go off. Sorry if I ruined-"

"You didn't ruin anything sod off Rose," James waved his hands at her to dismiss her apology.

"Though I do believe, we are going to call it a night." Damon said winking at them suggestively. "See you all later."

"Bye," They chorused in unison.

Damon and Claire left leaving them alone with James. All laughing and fighting had faded away leaving a new sort of tension.

James's brown eyes focused on them. "So…you two are for real?"

"Yeah," Rose said fake sheepishly, feeling rotted for having to lie.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" James demanded. "You know I wouldn't have told anyone."

Rose bit her lip and said. "I wasn't ready for anyone to know yet…We haven't told anyone else."

Glancing at them again, noticing the chemistry between them and how comfortable they seemed to be with one another and he shrugged. "Alright. Whatever…Makes no sense, but if you're happy... I guess I'm over it."

"Thanks James." Rose grinned.

"I'm out two, I'll see you later." He told Rose before walking away.

Rose let out a breath of relief and then smiled at Scorpius before hugging him impulsively. "We did it! We actually pulled it off."

"Yeah," Scorpius grinned, holding her gently. "We did."


	8. King and Lionheart

_Taking over this town, they should worry,_  
_But these problems aside I think I taught you well._  
_That we won't run, and we won't run, and we won't run._

**-Of Monsters Of Men-**

* * *

"_Where. Is. The. Girl,_" Alexander Nott growled, his thick eyebrows crunching together.

His lawyer gulped, "They haven't been…um…able to track her down."

"It has been a month. Explain to me why that isn't enough time."

"Well…For one there is no trace of her. We searched all of the boys contacts and they don't know who she is."

Nott's jaw twitched as his irritation grew. "Then maybe, instead of wasting my time, you should be out there making sure he was really who he said he was."

"…Oh…we didn't think of that Sir-"

"When I get out, if you take too long to fix this, I will cut off each of your fingers, _while_ _you watch_."

His lawyer paled, his big black eyes wide with terror.

"And you can tell the boys that they better get their shit together, because if I'm left in here, _heads, will, roll."_ He paused for emphasis, "You understand?"

"Yes…yes sir. Crystal."

"Now, get the hell out of here and fix this."

Standing up, the thirty-year-old man fixed his crisp silver tie and nodded. The panic was clear in his eyes, and his hands trembled as he made his way out of the detention center. The threat was clear and legitimate, if they didn't produce the girl and convince her to recant her statement in the next month and a half …He shivered thinking of the possibility. They would work harder and look everywhere. The girl couldn't have simply disappeared.

* * *

Scorpius let out a low breath, rubbing his eyes and grimacing. He'd read the same line over and over again for the past ten minutes. This case that he'd been working on tirelessly for the past few days didn't have a single lead to a suspect. There was something he was missing, he could feel it, but he just couldn't see what it was. Sighing, he automatically glanced over and saw Rose reading quietly. She hadn't said anything about helping him since the last time they fought over it. It wasn't really that she had given up, but more like she respected his decision as it was his and not hers to make.

At first he waited for her patience to wear and for her to demand that he just let her do something, but she didn't. Instead she found things to do and kept herself busy. Never did she bother him for anything or say a word. Every once in a while he would look over at her and notice things. Nothing worth saying, just little things like if she would zone out long enough and she was wearing a long enough shirt she would bite the top. Usually she didn't. She would cross her legs in whatever outfit she picked out for the day and then she'd look perfectly professional, but then sometimes she'd slip out of it. Rose would start to slouch; sometimes she'd kick her feet up and just sink into herself. Her hair would fall into her face cradling her face and framing it. The hair color she had before was too harsh for her skin tone and the cut wasn't as flattering on her features. She looked like she was 19 with her old hair, but now she looked just her age, not a day younger or older, just 24.

Scorpius smiled, a small almost unnoticeable smile that he didn't even know was on his face. Then he leaned back in his chair haughtily. He clearly wasn't getting anywhere with this case and it was about time he set aside his pride and just tried to make out if she could see what was absent.

"Rose?"

She didn't hear him; her eyes were still zooming around the pages. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. It only was supposed to be for a second and when she jumped he was about to move his hand, but she relaxed as soon as she recognized it was his hand.

"What?"

He folded the file up and put it on her side of his desk.

"…Wait…you…really?" Rose asked excitedly, beaming at him.

"Don't make me regret it." He teased removing his hand from her shoulder.

He watched her put her book aside, tuck her legs underneath her before digging into the case. For twenty minutes he didn't say anything to her, he just watched as she made notes in the margin and muttered things under her breath. Then finally her eyelashes fluttered and she smacked his arm to get his attention, not noticing she already had it.

"Okay so everything cancels out all of the available suspects, except for this. On the night in question Will Thompson was said to be with his brother the whole night right? His neighbor even confirmed she saw his brother go into Thompson's apartment and also saw Thompson talking to someone on his balcony during the time of the murder. But the thing is, his brother is a metamorphic…So he could have easily had his brother pretend to be him, have a conversation with no one, while Thompson snuck out of the flat."

Scorpius frowned. "Where does it say his brother was a metamorphic?"

"It doesn't, but he is…" She scooted closer to him and pointed to a line, "See that? Teddy does that all the time. He forgets to put his entire body back to normal so sometimes his eyebrow, hair color or facial hair length is off….I know it's not a sure thing, but considering he had something off about his appearance every time they questioned him-"

"No," he said softly, "I hadn't thought of that. That's good, that's a lead."

"So now what? I usually only see you file out paperwork…"

Scorpius smirked, and got up to his feet. "Grab your jacket."

"What? Where are we going?"

"To investigate our new lead."

* * *

To say Rose was surprised by Scorpius's actions would be a very generous understatement. In the month they'd been forced to be together they'd worked out a sort of rhythm and it was working. Sure he could be a royal pain in the ass, but she didn't mind that he made dinner every night or that they would spend most of their nights in just lying around her flat doing nothing. It was becoming almost normal for them, like it was something that was perfectly natural to do.

Rose didn't stop harassing him because she thought he'd eventually give in though. She knew he was stubborn and if she wanted to she probably could have fought him on it, but she didn't because she realized how she would feel if he was doing that to her. It would make her so mad that someone was forced into her life and then on top of that would mess with her career. Not that she would do anything to hurt his career, but still the point was not lost on her. After all if she was saddled with a different Auror she was sure they would be much tougher and much less flexible with her. For one they wouldn't do yoga with her and her Grams just because it was what she did every week. They would probably insist she cancel along with anything they did not wish to do. Scorpius didn't, he tried his best to make this easier on her, not easier on himself.

For three hours they went to different locations trying to track down the witnesses stated in the log. Most of them had moved. The case was ten years old, but eventually the managed to track down the lady that used to be the neighbor of the suspect. Thankfully she had only moved a neighborhood away from her original residence so it didn't take long for them to find her.

"Wait …" Rose's hand shot out to stop him from pushing the doorbell. "It says she's Bulgarian and doesn't speak English…."

"It's not a problem." He told her, pushing the doorbell with the hand Rose wasn't touching.

Rose gave him and odd look, but too a second to drop her hand from his forearm. He didn't seem fazed by this information. What was he planning to do? Gesture to the woman?

"Mrs. Sokolov?" He questioned clearly, as short plump woman with a bit of mustache answered the door.

"Да?Как мога да ви помогна?"

Здравейте, аз съм Скорпион Малфой.Съм с Auror отдел.Преди десет години бяха интервюирани за Алби на Уил Томпсън.Спомняш ли си?" He spoke clearly with an accent quite similar to Mrs. Sokolov's.

The sixty-year-old woman paused, scrunching her face up, before launching to more Bulgarian.

Rose didn't understand a single word. She was fluent in Italian, French and Spanish, but once she started with Spanish it was easy to learn the other two because they had similar word bases. Bulgarian though…who the hell knew how to speak Bulgarian?! That wasn't a normal language to learn! In the back of her mind she went through all of the languages Albus learned when he became an Auror, but it was a handful and it wasn't anything more than a few questions like, "Where is the body?" "What did they look like?" and, "Where is the loo?" Scorpius, it seemed new a lot more than conversational Bulgarian based on how quickly he was speaking...

"We've got him." Scorpius grinned nudging her in excitement. "Now we just have to see if we can find his location and I'll make the arrest!"

She gaped at him in awe.

"What?"

"You speak …_Bulgarian_?"

He nodded.

"What else can you speak?"

"Fluently? French, Italian, Cantonese, Japanese, Russian, German and Bulgarian obviously. Non fluently Greek and Spanish."

Rose walked along side him, "What's wrong with you? Were you grown in a cornfield or something?"

"Yes, that's exactly it."

"Well there's clearly something wrong with you." Rose teased, truly impressed by his ability to even remember all of those languages.

He gave her his arm so they could side along apparate. She grabbed it with a smile and held him a little tighter than she had to. Once they arrived at the suspects house Scorpius knocked on the guy's door.

"Should I be here?" Rose asked anxiously.

"You'll be fine. It's been ten years, so his first instinct will be to run. Unless he's naturally suspicious I doubt he'll think anything at first especially if I have someone with me without a badge."

"Okay, well why don't you let me do the talking then?" She suggested.

"Wh-" He began, but was cut off by the door opening.

The man at the door looked at them both in confusion. He scratched his patchy facial hair, his blue eyes scanning them for signs of trouble.

"Hi, Mr. Thompson?" Rose began merrily.

"Why?" He snapped back.

Rose feigned a frown. "Well I'm from the Ministry's lottery…and William Thompson won a hundred galleons…Is he here?"

The man's whole disposition shifted at that information. "Oh then yes that's me."

"I'm afraid I will have to see some identification." Rose laughed guiltily gesturing to Scorpius. "Otherwise he won't hand the money over."

"We don't want to give the money to the wrong person." Scorpius interjected playing along perfectly. "You understand mate."

Will Thompson nodded eagerly, "Of course, of course. Here," He showed his ID. "Now, just how have I won this money?"

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but I lied. Scorpius Malfoy here is an Auror, and unless I'm incorrect…you're under arrest."

The man's eyes widened and he attempted to slam his door shut and bolt. Scorpius took off after him, without a single word to Rose.

She put a spell on the front of the building to block him from doubling back. Then she calmly walked around the apartment complex. When she made it to the back of the building she saw Thompson racing down a fire escape. Now Scorpius was about to catch him, and Rose could see by the fierce determination on his face that he would.

But Rose was hungry and didn't want to watch Scorpius chase after a murderous idiot all day.

So when Thompson leapt the ground and was about to swing around the building, Rose charged at him and fish hooked him. The move had taken her years to prefect after Albus tried to teach her a handful of self-defense moves. The trick was she had to thrust all of her weight forward and locked her arm into place so it would catch him in the throat at the absolute right moment. It worked, Thompson hit her arm and shot backwards to the ground, clutching his throat and choking. Scorpius skidded to a stop, his breaths heavy, and a distinctive look of astonishment on his face.

"What…?"

"I helped," She shrugged.

Scorpius took his wand out and in the next second Thompson was in custody. "William Thompson, I am arresting you on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something, which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence..."

* * *

Rose smirked at the look on Scorpius's face when he returned from booking Thompson. He looked so proud and happy. Once he walked over to her, she grabbed his arm in excitement.

"…Well?"

He grinned, "He's asked for a lawyer and the Ministry's prosecutor thinks we have an excellent case."

"Yes!" Rose beamed hugging his arm.

"Thank you…You really did help a lot."

"Well then take me out to lunch! I'm starving."

Scorpius nodded. "Deal. I'll just check in and then we can go."

Rose forgot what a rush it was to work out in the field. It had been a long month without anything remotely exciting happening to her, which was kind of nice to take it easy for once and not have to be always on the move. But on the same hand it was wonderful to have actually done something productive. And they weren't a bad team either, something she could tell Scorpius noticed as well.

"Congrats mate," Damon congratulated Scorpius as soon as they returned to his cubical.

Scorpius smirked, "Thanks, Rose helped actually."

"Yeah I heard," Damon turned on her, his eye blue eyes full of amusement. "I didn't figure you would know how to fish hook somebody."

"Al and Joe taught me one time." Rose shrugged, as his arm slunk around her shoulder. "Why? Are you scared of me now?"

"Scared? Nah. Impressed, maybe."

Scorpius without thinking about it guided Rose away from Damon and locked up his desk. "We'll see you later."

"You guys are coming with us tomorrow right?" Damon asked using his puppy dogface perfectly in place.

"What do you mean?"

"Joe, Mike and Albus's brother, we're headed to dinner. We have a couple of dates. We're going dancing. You two in?"

Rose was about to say no, when Scorpius said, "Sure. Where are we meeting? Mike's?"

"Yep." Damon sent them a wink, "I'll see you guys there at 7."

"You heard that he said dancing right?" Rose checked giving him a look.

Scorpius said, "Yes I did."

"Are trying to tell me you dance?" She asked coyly, following him through the offices to the elevator.

"I didn't say that."

"You speak a bunch of languages, apparently you have some aptitude for dancing otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to going…Anything else you want to share?"

Scorpius snorted, as they slipped into the crowded elevator. "Like what?"

"Like, what's wrong with you." She suggested.

"Are you saying _you_ are _normal_? I know very few women who are fluent in four languages and know how to sew."

Rose eyebrows puckered together. "How did you know that?"

"It's in your file."

"My ability to sew is not in my file."

He relented with that. "…I've seen the repairs on your clothes and you have extra string in your room."

"I'm sure they're great repairs if you can see they are there." She said sarcastically, feeling the heat of his and everyone else's body on the elevator.

"Still, I don't know anyone who can do that."

"Grandma Weasley taught me how to do it with magic and Grams taught me how to do it without magic."

* * *

Scorpius and Rose left on the first floor, the hall was packed though, turning the massive lobby into one big crowd. She immediately took hold of his hand to not lose him. It was a simple gesture, something that she had done when she went somewhere with her cousins or brother, but the minute her hand closed around his he reacted. His fingers interlocked around hers, his hand on top and his grip firm, but not too tight. Rose thought back to an article she had once read in the Wedding section of the Daily Prophet, where they could tell a couple's connectivity based entirely on how they held hands. At the time Rose thought it was rubbish because her boyfriend at the time didn't hold her hand the way it said he should if they were in a good relationship, but three weeks later they broke up so she started to think maybe the article was right, and she was just wrong.

The thing about that was it made her realize that there were nonverbal cues in relationships that said more than she was willing to admit at the time. Like towards the end of all of her relationship, before she was ready to know that it was over, there were always things they did to distance themselves; less snogging, they sat farther apart and they began to touch each other less and less until they discovered they didn't want to touch each other at all. The longer she spent time with Scorpius the more comfortable obviously she became with him. She didn't flinch when he touched her or ever pulled away. Nor did he ever object to her sitting closer to him than she had to or when she would take a sip of his coffee when she finished hers too quickly. It was more than just them becoming friends or him protecting her. The part that was weird about that was that they didn't adapt into siblings as Rose would assume this situation would cause. She lived with Hugo for seventeen years and they were close, and did everything together when they lived together, but they didn't sit as close as Rose and Scorpius did and they didn't spend as much time together as they did either.

Of course someone could say spending 24/7 with anyone would make them close, but even when they were in her flat they hung out. The first week or so Rose always retreated into her room and Scorpius stayed out in the living room. They never talked or spent time together unless it was necessary. Now they still spent time alone, but Rose's door was rarely closed. She didn't even usually stay in her room and when she did he always found a reason to go talk to her about something.

Rose had friends; Olivia, who was over in Nepal working as international liaison with Britain, Hank who works at the Ministry, but who's wife just had their second kid, and Caroline who was working at St. Mungo's as a healer. She owled them all once a week, and she used to go out with Caroline for drinks, but hadn't recently. There was too much guilt there, even if Scorpius stayed invisible or found an excuse to tag along she wouldn't want to see her. It just brought up too many things that she was trying to avoid.

So basically she did have friends, and she loved them deeply but they were busy so she kept mostly to herself these days. The only person she still hung out regularly was James, who had recently been coming over and hanging out with her and Scorpius. Even if he didn't say anything Rose knew it took James a while to let go of what was going on between the two of them, but the last time he was over he just gave them an odd look and smiled. He wouldn't tell Rose what he was smiling about, but ever since then James hadn't said a word about them.

And she would have never thought that would bother her, but now she wondered why. Of course they were supposed to be pretending to be together and she should be happy that it was believable, but they never kissed or did anything like that. They'd hold hands, hug and sit close together in front of him, but there was never anything decisive that was done, so what about their behavior had really sealed it in for him?

That was when it hit her; she actually did fancy him.

If she was honest with herself, she had always liked him and found him attractive, but he always just annoyed her with all of the stupid things he did, which stopped her from thinking it any further... Though she never forgot that last night at Hogwarts with him... She had never felt so comfortable with someone in her life and the whole time they were snogging she kept thinking she had to be mad, because he was Scorpius Malfoy. She couldn't be comfortable with him of all people, but she was.

It was like when she was little and her parents would drive to her grandparents (to keep up appearances) and sometimes on the way home she'd fall asleep, but there were a few times where she wouldn't. And she could have just woken up and went inside the house, but she knew what would happen. Her father would sigh, scoop her up, carry her into the house and then tuck her into her bed. Fancying Scorpius was kind of like that. She knew that she could take more time to separate herself from him, but she used the excuse that they were supposed to be in love and he never, not even once called her out on it.

If there was one thing she wasn't looking forward to it was the day she was too big to be carried out of the car and she had to be shaken back to reality.

Because based on how she just felt holding onto his hand, she really could use a reality check…_.immediately._


	9. Demons

_Your eyes, they shine so bright_  
_I want to save their light_  
_I can't escape this now_  
**-Imagine Dragons-**

* * *

Rose and Scorpius had been out with Damon, James, Mike, Joe and their dates for about two hours. They'd already eaten and were enjoying their alcoholic beverages and taking turns dancing. Damon danced the most and with the most people. At one point he actually forced them all up, for the soul purpose of having them dance around him, like he was having a party in his honor and they were all privileged to have been invited.

Damon snuck into the seat next to Rose, "I dare you to dance with Scorpius."

"…So you can make fun of us?"

"No…because he only dances when I make him." Damon pouted resting his head on her shoulder, "I'd prefer if _you_ made him this time."

"Oh? And what do I get out of it?"

"You get to dance with a dashing, attractive man who is mad about you."

Rose laughed at him and rolled her eyes. "So _you_ are going to dance with me?"

"Oh yes I will, that is not a question, but I'm not the one who is head over heels in love with you," Damon sighed majestically his blue eyes twinkling with his own amusement. "Because you see, I am a man, no woman can tame or even hope to call her own. I belong to all women…_That is my curse."_

"How many shots have you had?" James snorted mockingly sitting down next to Damon. "You are turning delusional."

Damon feigned tears. "They always mock the wise."

"You're an idiot Damon." Rose shook her head at him.

Scorpius finished his conversation with Mike, leaned in and said, "What did he do this time?"

"He wants us to dance." She replied giving him a smirk.

Scorpius shook his head. "Prick."

"What, you don't want to dance with me?"

"Are you asking me?"

"Are you gonna ask me?" She countered crossing her arms and fighting the smile that was threatening to spread across her lips.

Scorpius turned away from her and Rose assumed he was going to strike up a conversation with Joe or Mike, but instead he stood up and held his hand out of her to take. Beaming, Rose took it and followed him out onto the dance floor. He spun her out, before swinging her back towards him. Her pale skintight pink dress fluttering as the breeze showed of the slit on her dress. Thankfully her hair was pinned back and didn't unravel with the quick movements. Scorpius moved her around easily and once he pulled her back towards him for a final time, he fastened his hand around her lower back and moved to a slower rhythm.

"What are you smiling about?" He wanted to know

"Now I get to dance with Damon. He promised me he'd dance with me and you know…all women want is to dance with him, you see." She mocked dryly.

Scorpius looked over at his best friend and snorted. "Bumbling idiot."

"Hey, that's _your_ bumbling idiot."

"True, but how was I supposed to know when I was 8 that he would always be like this?" He defended himself.

Rose laughed at him. "Yeah yeah yeah. I'm just saying. You are partially to blame for what he is."

"Yeah yeah,"

"You know, you are an ok-ay dancer." Rose teased him.

Scorpius eyed her, "Okay?"

She pretended to shrug, "I've seen better…Like Damon for instance. _Now he has some moves I've never seen before_…."

Scorpius swayed back and forth before twisting her around and dipping her suddenly. "Better?"

Rose was out of breath, "uh...uh."

He quickly flipped her back up to her feet. "That's what I thought."

"You're an idiot," She giggled against him.

The laugh that was so huge and alive on her face that it was noticeable when it fell and tears grew in her eyes instead. Her grasp constricted to an almost painful grip on him. Her eyes were locked on someone in the distance, and Scorpius frowned when he shifted to see who had upset her so much. He didn't bother to ask her if she was okay. It was clear she wasn't, but he just didn't know what was causing her fear.

He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear, "What is it?"

"…Care…Caroline Wood…Is over there."

Scorpius didn't understand. Last time he checked they were best friends. In fact she had a letter from Caroline dated only a month or two on her dresser, but then it hit him. Caroline had a twin brother; Connor Wood, the man Rose had watched die in front of her and the soul reason she was in protective custody in the first place.

"Hey guys, I'm not feeling so well," Scorpius announced to the group briskly, "I'll owl you. We're heading out."

"Really? Already? We were just-" Damon whined.

"Night," Scorpius said with a nod, leading her out of there as quickly as possible.

* * *

The minute they were outside, he pulled her into the empty alleyway between the buildings and Rose started bawling her eyes out. No matter what she did she was unable to catch her breath. Her breaths became sharper and sharper and despite how hard she was sobbing her eyes were wide in complete debilitating fear. Chills, shot up her veins, and sweat dripped down her neck and forehead. Scorpius brushed her hair out of her face, his forehead wrinkling and his eyes filling with terror.

"Rose, look at me. Ro…_Rose_!"

"I..I…I-" She panted, her make-up running down her cheeks.

"Hey," He cupped her shuddering face and fixed his gaze on her, "In…and out….in…and…come on Rose. _Rose, look at me_."

Her watery eyes rose to look at him.

"In…" He breathed in with her, taking her hands in with his, "_and out_….Slowly…just take your time. Okay? I'm right here Rose, I'm not going anywhere...Just breathe in and out."

Rose followed his instructions, her pulse gradually dropping back down to normal, and her breaths were still heavy, but became even. She started rocking back and forth. His hands curved around her face, he wiped some of the tears and mascara off her cheeks, but not all of it. Scorpius swiped several times, his thumbs growing black, and her cheeks were raw and pink.

"I…" She spoke hurriedly, her eyes wide, "I watched…I watched him die and Caroline…_Merlin_…_It was her brother_…and…and…" Rose's hands clenched his collar as she leaned against him.

Unsurely, Scorpius just held onto her. No matter how hard she shook or how hysterically she cried he just gripped her firmly and wouldn't let her go. They just stood there, leaning forward, arms locked, anchoring them to each other.

Eventually, she had cried everything she had left in her. Her shaking hands loosened on his collar and fell to his shoulders. Scorpius clumsily released her face and shifted her into his chest, before hesitantly running his hand down her back in a soothing gesture. Rose's heart rate slowed progressively as she rested against him. Her ruined make-up stained his previously impeccably white dress shirt, but Scorpius didn't say a single word about it.

Scorpius had worked in cold cases for the past five years, with occasional stints in undercover assignments in active duty. It had been a long time since he had been around someone who was crying, and the thought of the last time he actually held someone while they did…

Chocking back tears, Scorpius brought her closer to him. It wasn't his body's natural reaction. The muscles in his forearms stood out, rigid and stiff. His hands curled into fists and his jaw trembled, but he did it anyway. Once he did, this sensation came over him. It wasn't cold, but it was a cool prickling feeling that waved over him.

Rose's thoughts had been like pissed of hornets, swarming and attacking her, stabbing her from the inside, but it was getting better. She was focusing on her own breathing like Scorpius had told her; it was a single strand of thought amongst all of the mob of thoughts, but she squeezed her eyes shut to hold onto that.

When they made it back to her apartment it was late, far later than they were originally planning to stay out. The routine was, they would come in and separate for a bit. They'd still talk and end up in the same room eventually anyway, but they'd take a minute to themselves before that. This time, they didn't have it in them to bother.

His arm was strung across her, and her hands were attached to the front of his shirt.

"Do you want to clean up?" He asked her softly.

She nodded weakly, no longer visibly upset.

"Want me to come with you?"

"No," She said quietly, "But…would you mind staying with me tonight? I know…I know this wasn't in your job description-"

Scorpius waved that off, "I'll wait for you in there okay?"

"Okay."

Of course she could have expected to see her eventually. They had been best friends since they were seven years old and ran in the same circles. At some point she was going to have to face what happened, but somehow she had convinced herself that maybe she wouldn't have to deal with it. That maybe if she just blocked it out completely she could ignore the fact that Connor was actually dead.

It was stupid. So so incredibly naïve and stupid.

It wasn't her fault Connor was dead, but she feared more than anything else that when Caroline did hear what happened she would blame her. Caroline would ask her why she didn't do more. Why she didn't stop him from going, why she didn't bring Albus, why she went along with it at all. All things that Rose had asked herself in the hours after it happened and all the things she forced herself to ignore.

She ignored it so she could get through it. She ignored it because she couldn't handle the truth. Rose would quit her beloved job, ignore her family and friends and follow Scorpius around for the rest of her life if it meant she didn't have to think about it again.

Moving into her shower, she stripped her clothes off and leaned against the wall. She could hide from the people that wanted to kill her, but if this proved anything, it was that she couldn't hide from it for long. In a month and a half she would be on the stand, and have to tell Caroline and her entire family in front of a court what happened. It wasn't going anywhere, she had to just force herself to confront it.

Turning the faucet on she closed her eyes and whispered, "Connor was 25 years old. He somehow had gotten himself involved with Death Eaters and when he took me…when he took me to see what was happening he did it so I could write about what was happening and spread the word. I was under and invisibility spell and I watched Alexander Nott's right hand man kill an unarmed muggleborn woman. When Connor tried to stop him, he revealed his true allegiance and Alexander Nott murdered him using the killing curse…." Rose gulped, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "When I saw his body fall, I ran to get help…I ran and knocked into a man…He took off my invisibility spell and tried to kill me. I ducked and ran, but …they…" Pausing to catch her breath, she gripped the wall. She flinched as the memories came back to her like it was happening to her then. "They shots spells to kill and stop me but they just hit things around me, so broken glass and heavy boxes hit me while I tried to escape. I immediately went to my cousin, Albus Potter and he took me into the Auror's office to take my statement."

There, she did it. The whole story. The whole thing. No graphic details, but at least she could get out a summary of what happened. At least she could say it at all.

Taking a deep breath, Rose grabbed a washcloth, soaked it in the water coming from the showerhead and scrubbed her make-up off. She wanted to washed her hair better, but her arms began to ache every time she raised her arms, so she just did the bare minimum. When she turned off of the faucet and pulled clean underwear, an over shirt and shorts on, it took her a few tries to get her shorts on; she kept losing her balance, because her body was so weak from crying.

* * *

Pushing open the door, Rose was about to drop right onto her bed when she saw Scorpius waiting for her. She had forgotten she had asked him to stay with her. It was a flash, a moment of weakness that she should have immediately taken back. As soon as she saw him sitting there, shirtless in some gym shorts, she couldn't bring herself to tell him he could leave. Though she had no idea how this was going to go. Would they sleep on separate sides? Would they…cuddle? She couldn't imagine Scorpius being a cuddler.

Still she sat down unsurely, before lying back on the side she normally slept on. Scorpius went to close the light and then stiffly laid down on the other side of the bed, only inches away from her. Rose glanced up at her seeing, her throat constricting at the fact that she could feel his body heat despite their distance.

"Do you normally sleep in shorts?" She asked hoarsely.

"…No."

She eyed him, but then little out the tiniest laugh. "You didn't want to make me uncomfortable by wearing just your boxers?"

"…Yeah."

Rose's face trembled at that little sweet gesture. She turned and looked at him. "You know…I can't stand you half the time, but you really are a good person."

His eyebrows raised in astonishment.

"I…I wouldn't have been able to get out of there without you." She admitted quietly, not looking at him, but she reached out and grabbed his hand. "I know you have to do a lot of this, but I do appreciate the way you do it and how you go out of your way to make this easier for me…Thank you Scorpius."

Wide-eyed in shock, Scorpius looked down at their joined hands and felt incredibly out of place. Rose didn't say anything after that, and if he didn't hear her breathing at a normal pace he would assume she fell asleep. People had said nice things to him before, but no one had ever said something so sincerely to him without expecting something in return. People weren't like that anymore, at least not any of the women he had dealt with in the past few years.

"You're welcome," He said gently, rubbing his thumb along her knuckle.

In a split second decision, Rose rolled over. She rested her head on his shoulder and hugged his torso.

For a moment Scorpius wasn't sure what to do. He had never really cuddled with a woman before. He had held a woman before, obviously, but usually they separated and slept apart for the rest of the night. Rose wasn't like that. She had spent most of her nights sleeping alone and so most likely was perfectly able to do so, but she just fit herself against him in such an innocent and perfect way that he had a hard time seeing why she would ever have to sleep alone.

The problem was, he had no idea what he was doing. He felt like he had an extra arm, where was he even supposed to put his arms? And also where was he supposed to put his head? Was he supposed to rest it on the top of hers? Or just lean back against the pillows? Would it be seen as cold if he didn't put his head close to hers? This wasn't his area, but Rose didn't seem to mind or judge him. So he just decided on wrapping his left arm around her and lying back to support his neck.

Rose didn't know why she thought this was a good idea. Clearly this was an impulse and not a thought out action, because if it was she would have realized that Scorpius had never initiated anything touching with her. Any hugs, high fives or even usually hand on the shoulder were started by her and it was to the point where she wasn't sure if he was just awkward or if he was just being polite. Surely he would move away or would have found an excuse to leave if this was making him uncomfortable….Right?

She was too tired and worn, to think too hard on it. If she fell asleep on him, he could just shift her off of him and leave. Rose wouldn't have been offended and she didn't expect him to stay anyway. Another thing she didn't expect was for his arm to curl around her and hold her closer to him. It felt…nice and safe. Her body temperature was always too cold, so people never liked to hold her for too long, but Scorpius seemed to be the opposite. Looks aside, she was surprised he ever wore clothes because he was so warm. He must overheat overtime he held someone of normal temperature, which would explain his arms length approach to hugging and general intimacy.

"Are you cold?" He asked her suddenly feeling how cold her skin was and following her thought pattern exactly.

"…uh…I'm always this temperature."

He rubbed her arm, frowning a bit. "You are _always_ this cold?"

"Are you _always_ this warm?" She countered.

"Yes."

"You don't do this a lot do you?" Rose questioned.

He sighed, "No. I never really understood why people did. It's a good way to overheat."

"Are you overheating?"

"No, but I think it's because you are like a little fridge."

Rose tilted her head back to get a good look at him. "How do you know what a fridge is?"

"I took muggle studies and I go over your muggle grandparents house every week."

"True…So I'm not hurting you right?" Rose said nervously. He had given her the opening to ask questions.

This time he laughed, the sound vibrated down his body and she could feel his stomach tighten because of it. "No, I'm fine."

"What did you get your tattoo's for?" Rose asked seeing them up close for the first time, her eyes lingering on small black birds on his chest.

"You'll just take the mickey out of me if I tell you."

"Of course I will," Rose told him honestly, "but you should tell me anyway."

Scorpius looked down at the DAS tattoo on his shoulder and laughed again. "Albus and Damon have them too, when we were seventeen we all got it. It's stands for all of our names. The birds ….I got them when I was 20."

"Why did you get them?"

He stopped for a second and Rose could feel him tense up.

"You don't have to tell me. If it's too personal."

"I got them to remember my mum. She used to sing that muggle song to me when I was little."

Rose frowned, "Blackbird?"

"Yeah….that one."

There was a beat of silence. Scorpius cleared his throat, shaking off the feelings that were creeping up on him. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"That x you have on your left wrist. What does that mean?" He asked casually.

Tears sprung up in her eyes. "Do you really want to know or are you just asking?"

Scorpius tilted his head to get a better look at her. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know."

Rose bit her lip and pushed off of him, to sit up. Her head ached and she wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep, but they had somehow slipped into this odd grey area that neither of them could quite move away from.

She tucked her leg underneath her and looked at her wrist. "When I was 21, I was engaged to be married. I was in love and…pregnant. I was also just starting to work as an investigative reporter. I'm fiancée wanted me to quit, and just take a load off while I was pregnant. I refused. We began to fight all the time and eventually he left me."

"…And the baby?"

"_I miscarried_." She said with a heavy breath, staring at her wrist. "…I couldn't talk about it, but one day I was with James and we went by a tattoo parlor…and I just got this in my head."

"Have you seen the guy since?

"Once. About a year ago, I was with Victoire at this maternity shop and he was there with this woman, they were both wearing wedding rings…"

"How long where you together?"

"Two years."

Scorpius reached forward and traced her tattoo with the tips of his fingers without asking permission to do so. Rose froze and stayed perfectly still as he did so. His fingers then trailed back down to her hand, which he took in his own.

"You're stronger than you think you are you know."

Rose's eyes lifted to meet his. "You think so?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," He said simply.

She smiled at that, a real smile, for the first time in hours. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Rose reached forward and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Scorpius."

"You're welcome."

"By the way," Her lips lingered above his ear, "That's not the only tattoo I have."

Scorpius eyebrows shot up, but she didn't give him time to respond.

"Good night Scorpius," she said crawling under her blanket and turning on her side.

"Night Rose."


	10. Just Give Me a Reason

_It's been written in the scars on our hearts_  
_That we're not broken just bent_  
_And we can learn to love again_  
**-P!nk feat Nate Ruess-**

* * *

Rose was sitting at Scorpius's desk just minding her own business. He'd left literally a few seconds earlier and thought nothing of leaving her alone in his cubical for a few seconds. She was in the Auror department after all, there was no place safer, but he still promised he would be back soon. It wasn't weird if he waited outside the bathroom for her, but the other way around was just too odd to explain away.

In the few moments she had apart from him she tried to regain control over her feelings.

They were just working together, perhaps they were now close enough to be called friends, but that was it. Anything else had to be contained. The problem was she could feel that it wasn't just her. If it was, he wouldn't have held her, he wouldn't have stayed. Being nice to her was a decent human thing to do, but the rest of it he didn't have to do. No one would have blamed him for getting some distance to stay professional, but he didn't. Why?

Because there was apart of him somewhere that must actually care about Rose. It could be tiny and it could be fleeting, but for a few hours it existed and it was difficult to make herself to forget that.

She played with the end of her braid absentmindedly, with a case file sitting on the desk in front of her. When Scorpius was sitting with her she made a bunch of notes and came up with some leads to this case, but they weren't anywhere close to solving it. The first case they worked came together quickly; it was just a matter of looking at everything from a different angle.

Albus snuck into Scorpius's cubical, his eyes searching around, "Where's he at?"

Rose frowned,"…The loo. He'll be right back. What's up?"

"His ex is here."

"Wait, which one?" Rose questioned interestedly, craning her head to look around.

Albus scowled, "This isn't a good thing. I'm warning you, she comes off all nice, but that woman left him at the altar."

"_Wait…what_?"

He ran his hand through his untidy hair with a sharp sigh. "Look, I don't know how close you two actually are, or how much is for show, but…when she left him…_He was destroyed._ He loves working cold cases, and yet he signed up for every dangerous assignment he could find…I'm actually pretty sure at the time, he was also a functional alcoholic too, but that's neither here nor there. The problem is she's here and asked to see Scorpius."

"Why?!"

"I don't know, I overheard her asking Damon where he was...She's a ginger and she actually can be nice, but it doesn't matter she broke his heart…." Albus's lips thinned in disapproval, "She should have figured out she didn't love him when he proposed."

"How did he do it? Propose I mean." Rose wondered aloud. "I can't see him doing the whole middle-of-the-restaurant thing."

"I don't know, but you are missing the issue here. If he sees her he might…Actually it's been two years. I don't know how he'd act now."

Rose waved him off. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"How are you going to take care of it?"

"I don't know. I'll improvise, but quick panicking. You are turning into grandma."

Albus's face darkened, "Don't ever say that."

"Why? _Because it's true?_ I know you wear that apron she got you when you cook. Ashley even said so-"

"Bye Rose," Albus said flatly disappearing as quickly as he appeared.

She didn't miss the blush rising in his cheeks or the way he scurried away, but she laughed it off and thought about what Albus had said when Lily strolled by.

"Yo Potter!" Rose catcalled after her cousin.

"Apparently this is the place to be today." Rose commented, eyeing her baby cousin's outfit. "And what are we wearing today?"

Lily posed while making faces, before sitting down in Scorpius's seat. "I'm just stopping by to grab my dad and Albus for a bit of lunch."

"Ah the monthly Potter gathering. Is James going to show up this time?"

"Who knows? You see him more than we do." Lily shrugged unconcernedly, fixing her skirt. "By why are you sitting in here?...Who's office is this?"

"Scorpius Malfoy."

Lily did a double take, "Wait, as in …_Scorpius Malfoy_, Scorpius Malfoy?"

"I mean I highly doubt anyone else is named Scorpius Malfoy-"

"Rose Weasley!" Lily nudged her with a smirk, "What are you doing in his office?Huh? Huh?!"

"Working on a story," Rose mocked her with a grin.

"On what? _What size boxers he wears?_"

Rose snorted and rolled her eyes, "You never change do you Lily?"

"You would have SUCH a boring life."

"Would hate for that to happen."

"Excuse me?" A voice muttered.

* * *

Rose turned and saw a woman; petite, ginger with flawless porcelain skin, with big doe eyes and a button nose. It only took a second for her to figure out that this was the woman Albus had warned her about only moments earlier, but Rose couldn't see what was so bad about her. She was very fashionable with her little raincoat, tan boots, and polite tone.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Do you know where I'd happen to find Scorpius?"

Rose smiled at her, "He just left, but I can leave a message for you." She grabbed a quill and spare piece of parchment. "What is your name?"

"Oh, it's probably just better if I see him myself."

"Well I warn you, I've been working with him all day and he's really booked up. You know my cousin is an Auror and I know he just finished is case load for the day if you need help." Rose pointed down aisle, "His name is Albus Potter. I'm sure he will help you."

"Oh I know Albus," The woman blushed, a bit of irritation in her tone. "Would that make you Rose?"

"Yes, and this is Lily." Rose gestured to her cousin. "I'm sorry I can't do anything more to help you."

She paused, "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"We'll we have to leave soon," Rose checked her watch, "Engagement party to throw and all."

The woman's eyebrows puckered together. "Are you…are you his fiancée?"

"She is," Lily answered for Rose, wrapping her arm around her proudly. "They are planning a June wedding for next year-"

"I still haven't your name," Rose changed the subject quickly.

"Amelia Tyler…_I'm nobody_…In fact, don't say anything to him about me." She said quickly, "Congratulations..._He deserves it._"

"Well she couldn't move out of here faster," Lily muttered.

"When I said the engagement party…I didn't mean us." Rose grumbled, smacking Lily. "What if he actually wants to talk to her? Now she thinks he's engaged!"

"He'll be fine. I've seen her before, when they were dating…" Lily shook her head, "She always seemed like she was dating him for the sake of dating him."

"Huh."

"Besides you have the hots for him anyway."

"Oh sod off Lily!"

"Are you saying you don't find him attractive?"

"I'm not saying that…" Rose sighed giving in, "Just don't tell Scorpius I called him hot. I will never hear the end of that."

"Have you managed to see him _indecent _while you've been working together?"

"He's attractive and shirtless…I'll admit is not so bad." Rose snorted with a blush. "But that's not the point. The point is that he'll be back any minute and you shouldn't be here when he is."

Lily rolled her eyes, flipping her sleek red hair over her shoulder, "Oh _so_ touchy!"

"Don't want to keep the Potter men waiting, do you?"

"Oh they'll survive!" Lily pinched her cheek teasingly. "You have fun Rosie, I'll owl you later. We'll have dinner or something soon."

"Oy! You are aware that I'm older than you right?" Rose complained rubbing her cheek.

Lily waved her off, "Whatever Rosie…Oh hi...uh Scorpius!" She, the only Weasley spawn to not get the blushing gene stayed perfectly calm. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," He said eyeing her.

Rose's eyes bulged and she prayed to every god she'd ever heard of that he didn't hear anything. From what she could see he wasn't smirking or arrogant at all. His face looked thoughtful and almost neutral, but there was something about his jaw. It was just a little off…like he was trying not to frown or smile, but she couldn't tell which way he was leaning.

"Um, see you later Rosie," Lily called, walking around Scorpius.

"Yeah, byeee."

Scorpius walked in and sat down in his seat. He didn't look at her or seem to have a single thing to say. Rose thought of saying something to him a few times, but then she didn't know what the hell to say. If he honestly didn't hear anything she didn't know whether she should say anything at all.

How do you say? I didn't mean anything by calling you hot and your horribly catalogue-magazine-cute looking ex was just here…looking for you. How the hell was she supposed to say that? What was the ruling for that?

* * *

"Hey guys," James popped his head in with a smile, "guess what?"

Rose shifted awkwardly, "Hey, what's up?"

"I met this _super_ hot chick in the lift."

Laughing, Rose smiled up at him. "Because you _really_ are at a loss for female attention."

"You know I don't mind the occasional lady addition…"

"Merlin, you are such a pig. Didn't you go on a date yesterday? I thought you said you liked her."

"Oh, you know I did, but I never see anything worth sticking around for."

Rose shook her head, "Well are you supposed to know that if you only stand there for 12 seconds?"

"Um, until recently, you were just like me Ms." He reminded her with a scoff, "But no, this girl, so she's crying right? Telling me about her ex and how she never realized how good she had it until after she left him for another guy."

"So you swooped in and comforted her like the good guy you are." Rose rolled her eyes with a small smirk.

"I did. Apparently the girl, just saw her ex's fiancé and-"

"NO…NO no no no!" Rose leapt to her feet with a panic, her eyes widening in horror. "Is she still here? Oh Merlin, please tell me she is still in the Ministry!"

"Why?"

"I made her cry. _Oh Merlin_! I didn't mean to! I've never made anyone cry before! Lily said it and I went along with it. I didn't think-"

"Rose, slow down," James said soothingly, "She's long gone, but don't worry. She took my name and she's going to out with me next week. So I don't think she's that broken up."

Rose groaned, her hands gripping the top of her hair. "Still-"

"I have to go, but don't worry about it Rosie." James told her, before heading off to meet Lily, Albus and their dad.

Her mind was reeling, and the guilt, the massive swarm of guilt consumed her. She didn't know what to do. Though James said she already left, it didn't matter. Rose still wanted to track her down and make sure any misery she felt had nothing to do with her. It was just a laugh; she never wanted to make anyone cry.

"I'm sorry," Rose mumbled pacing around his cubical. "I didn't…"

"Why are you so worked up?" He wondered, glancing up at her in utter confusion.

Rose's eyes were filled with tears. "Because, that wasn't my place and I'm sorry-"

"You don't even know her and you are crying over making her cry."

"I know, I know. I'm a spastic idiot."

Scorpius got to his feet and she tensed as she thought he might yell, but wiped her eyes and laughed. "No, you're just a good person."

"But-"

"_Stop_. I heard her talking to Albus and she was asking if I was single, and what I've been doing since we've been apart. She's just desperate and looking for something that doesn't exist anymore."

"_Really_?"

"Yes, now please stop crying." He gripped her shoulders, "I never know what to do when you cry…"

Rose let out a choky laugh. "Sorry, I just…I felt so bad."

"You've never made someone cry?"

"Not unless I'm crying too. I like it to be a group effort…Merlin, I'm a horrible person…"

He grinned and ruffled her hair. "Come on. Why don't we go get some dinner?"

"Problem, eh...It's like 3:30, which would constitute a late lunch I suppose."

"That depends on where we go to get dinner." He closed his files and grabbed his jacket, offering her his arm. "You coming?"

Rose grabbed her things and took his arm. "Fine, but I still feel bad."

"You are ridiculous."

* * *

When they apparated Rose didn't recognize her surroundings and stumbled on the concrete for a few steps before she gained her footing. It occurred to her after a second or two that they were Paris, but she couldn't think of a reason in the world why they were.

"Um, Scorpius. I think you went a few grates too far."

Scorpius took her hand. "No I didn't. There's a bar here, Damon and I used to go to."

"There's a lot of dive bars around here...Oh and we are going into this one?"

"Yep," Scorpius declared, interlocking their fingers needlessly.

He guided her over the counter and ordered two shots of firewiskey. Rose hesitated before sitting down. Sure she was wearing plain clothes, a pair of jeans and a flowery t-shirt so it wasn't like she was over dressed or anything. The issue was more she had no idea what the hell they were doing there.

"Sit," He gestured.

Sighing, she hiked herself up onto the bar stool next to him. "So what's the plan?"

Scorpius grabbed his shot and dunked it back.

"Is that alcoholic?" She asked in bewilderment.

"I'm a legal adult."

"I'm aware of that, but you usually don't _inhale_ your drink."

"Well I've had a long day. Why don't we make a game out of it?"

Rose eyed him. Trying to understand his motives and failing quickly. "That sounds like a horrible plan…What are the rules and regulations to this game?"

Scorpius grinned and leaned forward. "Old school truth or dare."

"And it just keeps getting worse…You first. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"How much did you hear earlier?" She demanded quickly.

Scorpius laughed, leaning forward, his hair falling in his face. "I heard you talking to my ex fiancé…"

"And, _anything else_?"

"You think I'm hot."

Rose blushed, fiercely, "_Nope. No. I never said that._"

"Your turn. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

Scorpius gave her an appraising look. "Dare? _Really_?"

"Please don't make me kiss that big biker dude over there, because I will retaliate if you go down that path."

"Show me your other tattoo." He said bluntly.

"Um I can't exactly do that in public." She admitted, resting her arms against the counter. "So rain check for later. Your turn."

He shrugged, "Truth."

"What's the deal with your ex?" She inquired slyly, taking a shot of her own.

"Dare."

Rose tugged on his arm teasingly. "Come on, you've heard my sob story. What is yours?"

He groaned, "I'm going to need another shot for that."

"Hey, nice, wonderful bartender? Can we get two more shots?"

* * *

Within an hour and a half they both had taken a few more shots and Scorpius was sharing quite freely.

"I loved her, and I didn't see that she didn't feel the same. Until she left me there, with a note saying she fitted better with her ex-boyfriend." He took a sip of his drink. "Apparently, I'm cold and distant. She wanted to be reassured all the time that I loved her."

Rose made a face. "I never got that. That _in-your-face,_ _I-have-to-know-where-you-are-all-the-damn-time_ crap. You are supposed to have separate lives. How can you trust someone if you don't let them live?"

"Yeah, well I thought," Scorpius paused, looking at his glass, "that since she said she'd sign a pre-nup…I don't know. I was young and stupid. My dad said I was an idiot for not letting her sign it-"

"You are Scorpius Malfoy! Your family has a fortune. How can you not have a pre-nup? Even if you don't have money you should sign a pre-nup. It makes everything simple, cut and dry. Your dad is right, you were an idiot."

"I trusted her, as stupid as that was, and I viewed not as betrayal to start off a marriage admitting it might not work out."

"That's just wrong. You have to protect each other and yourselves from your future selves. Think about all of the people you have known and how you were so close to some of them and how you don't even know some of them now. People change and sometimes people don't change together and preparing for that is just being practical."

"Have you by any chance read that divorce article that was in the Prophet last month?" Scorpius asked knowingly.

Rose beamed and said, "I actually wrote that. Edna Simpkins is my penname. I worked with that divorce lawyer for a week. Really gave me a lot of insight...I believe in love and all that, but I think people forget what's important. You can be really in love with someone that doesn't the share the same values as you, but it will matter in the long run."

"You're really quite smart."

"Why does that always surprise you?" She laughed, her hair falling into her face.

"_It doesn't._ I had classes with you for seven years, and worked with you our last year." His voice grew soft, "It's just it amazes me sometimes how you are."

She snorted, squeezing her eyes shut as a blush overtook her cheeks. "What does that even mean?"

"Like today…" He laughed like he couldn't believe she was real. "You just you care about people and you notice things. That I feel like you shouldn't have to, but you do. And you're ballsy."

"Alright, enough of that for you." Rose took his empty glass away, shrinking into herself, "You're starting to make shit up now."

"No, I'm not."

"Well…um…eh… then I'm um flattered, but we should go and get you home."

"Why?"

Rose melted a little by the look on his face. "Because you are…_just adorable_ right now. You are all open and honest and flirty, but tomorrow you are going to feel bad about this and it's going to be awkward between us when you do. Andddd… I want to limit that as much as possible."

Scorpius said, "No I'm-"

"Come on, let's go." Rose maneuvered off of the stool and grabbed him. "Come on, stud."

He wrapped his arms around her, clumsily. He leaned onto her, resting his head against her forehead. "Stud?"

"Yes," She giggled against her best efforts, "That would be you."

"Are we going …home?" Scorpius slurred.

Rose's chest constricted at the word and all the possible connotations, but she didn't say anything. Instead she held onto him and walked with him until he was sober enough to apparate.


	11. Come Back, Be Here

_The delicate beginning rush,_  
_The feeling you can know so much,_  
_Without knowing anything at all._  
**-Taylor Swift-**

* * *

Scorpius inhaled and stretched, not opening his eyes at first, but just shifting into being awake. His stumble brushed against soft sheets and the sunlight from the window streamed through the window, hitting him in the face and making it impossible for him to fall back to sleep.

He was about to open his eyes, when his hand felt something or rather someone next to him. Before he looked he knew it was Rose, but he knew it in a way that terrified him. There was no doubt it would be her, especially after he recognized he must be in her bedroom, but the reason that immediately came to his mind wasn't because she was under his protection and couldn't leave his sight.

It was because she was the only woman he'd have a reason to wake up next to and that thought scared him much more than he could have imagined.

Carefully, he lifted the sheet and was relieved to find that he was indeed wearing boxers and she was wearing pajamas. He cursed himself for being stupid enough to even have to question that they might not have any clothes on. His head ached from the pounding hangover that was building in the back of his neck all the way up to his temples.

_What the hell had he been thinking?_

That was the issue; he hadn't been thinking. He saw Amelia and something in his snapped. He just saw how caring and kind Rose was and instead of repressing his feelings like he always did, he let go. Sure he didn't snog her or tell her how he felt, but he also took her out of the country without permission, to a bar and became so intoxicated she had to take care of him.

What if the Death Eaters had come? What if she had gotten hurt, taken or even…on his watch?

Sitting up, his eyes felt like they were on fire. His face-hardened as he looked down at her sleeping face. She didn't look pretty when she slept; her hair was everywhere, she still had some of the make-up on her face from the day before. Still there was something about her. Something that kept him from being able to distance himself from her no matter how hard he tried.

It wasn't infatuation talking either. He'd always fancied her, even when they went to school together, but as soon as they started spending actual time together he long passed feeling of just a simple crush.

He had been trying so hard to be professional and just…suppress it all, but he failed. All he had to do was not get too attached to her. That's it. It was simple. Just go three months and just protect her and look after her. Become friends, sure, but anything past that was strictly and aggressively forbidden. It wasn't written down, but it was in the code. And even if he never kissed her, touched her or initiated anything physical with her, he'd still gone to far.

* * *

When Rose woke up, he jumped into the shower, and gave himself a pep talk. He would just talk to the Head of the Department and explain he was emotionally compromised and someone else would have to be assigned her case. Albus would take it if Scorpius agreed to take on his active cases.

Every muscle in his body tightened, he put his hands against the shower wall, his fists balled up and his head bent down. The jets of water normally just rolled down him, but he was standing too close, making the water pressure sharp and unforgiving.

If he did this he wouldn't see her again. She would be around the office, but if he switched…If he left, she would hate him, because there was no good way to explain his side of this situation. He couldn't be honest; there was no other choice but to say he was tired of this.

The easy part would be convincing his boss. People were reassigned all the time and considering the circumstances of the case he doubted anyone would give him any trouble. His friends would just think him and Rose broke up. The only part that would be hard would be …Rose.

He had to do this. Selfishly, he had put her endanger and now he had do this to make her safe…even if it hurt.

When Rose woke up Scorpius was nowhere to be found. Adapting to the morning light, she sat up and rubbed her face groggily. In the distance she heard the shower running and compelled herself to get up. After the night he had. he'd probably be in rotten state and probably would need a cup of coffee to get through his workday.

Thinking she was being considerate, Rose peeled herself off her comfortable bed and went to put on the coffee. She set herself some for after she took a shower of her own. When he came out, his eyes were downcast, and she grimaced. He had to feel like road kill and pity was an easy emotion for her to jump to. Without thinking the slightest thing about it, Rose touched his shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly. He flinched away, his face aloof and cold.

Offended, Rose moved away from him and pretended she didn't care, but she couldn't stop the flash of hurt that had grown in her eyes or how her shoulder slumped.

"Uh…I made some coffee, yours is right there. I'm going to hop in the shower." She didn't wait for him to reply.

Maybe he was just grumpy from his hangover or just in a mood. Neither gave him a reason to be so rude to her. In the back of her mind she wondered if it was just her, if she had done something to upset him, but no matter how hard she racked her mind she couldn't think of anything. Maybe he was mad at himself for getting drunk the night before, but that was hardly her fault. He was a grown adult and though she probably could have said or done something to dissuade him it really didn't matter. She respected him enough to let him make his own decisions; it wasn't her fault if he was facing the brunt of those actions now.

Rose quickly took a shower and changed. Adding a few touches of make-up, she grabbed her bag and went to sit with him in the kitchen. They usually ate breakfast before leaving, but either he wasn't hungry or he wasn't in the mood to eat so early, because was standing by the door, full dressed and glaring at the door as if it had said something to offend him.

"No breakfast?"

"No. I have to get to work."

Not we have to get to work, or any consideration if she might be hungry. Rose scowled, but kept her mouth shut. If he was going to be a prick, than fine, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was pissing her off. If he looked willing to work out whatever was up his arse than she would talk to him and act like an adult. But how was she supposed approach him when he was like this? They'd fought before, in the beginning it was all the time, but lately they'd worked on communicating effectively.

It had been a long time since she had seen him like this. Back in their seventh year, he was livid with someone about something and he spent the whole Prefect meeting gripping the edge of the table, and glowering at the opposite wall. His body was rigid and he never said a single word. He just sat there, lips pressed together, face stark white.

She tried to lie to herself and say maybe she just didn't know him, but it didn't last long at all. The truth was she knew exactly who he was. And she knew that whatever it was it was something that had been bothering him for a while. Was it his ex? It didn't seem to be the problem, but what else could have spurred him to want to isolate himself for no reason?

When they arrived in the office, Scorpius stopped to talk to Mike and Joe for a few moments. Though he wasn't as warm as he usually was, he wasn't as brisk or sharp as when he had spoken to her. With them, he had taken the time to look them in the eye. Something he seemed to be unwilling to do with her.

Finally after they had been in his cubical for ten minutes she broke. She couldn't handle him sitting right there and not talking to her. Going the whole day would kill her. She'd never met anyone that had could get under her skin so easily, but she didn't think about that.

"Scorpius," She said clearly, "What's going on? …Did I do something? I know you are upset. Please just talk to me. _You know you can talk to me about anything._ So come on. What's on your mind?"

He tensed at one sentence, but he just kept staring at the file in front of him. "Nothing."

"You are honestly going to lie to me? I know when you are lying."

"I actually have to talk to my boss about something. Stay here."

Then he bolted, moving out of the cubical as fast as humanly possible. Rose peeked around and saw Scorpius stop to ask Albus something but other than that he practically ran away from her.

Rose's jaw tightened and her teeth grinded together as Albus headed her way. No doubt to look after her while Scorpius was gone. Quickly Rose, sat down and feigned to be in pain.

"Rose…you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just on my period." She accented. "I think I'll pop in the loo. Wait for me here will you? I have to talk to you about James."

Albus took a step back, looking at her abdomen in utter fear. "Um…Well …I'm not really supposed to leave you…"

"You aren't," She groaned, louder than necessary to make Albus as out of his comfort zone as possible. "I'll be back in a minute… I just don't want you waiting outside, when you know…blood is seeping out of me…from my uterus."

"Okay! Okay! I'll wait here…Just…stop…describing it."

Rose would have smirked when she got past him, but she was so focused on finding out what was going that she didn't. Freaking Albus out with female anatomy was just a breeze in the park. The real issue was finding Scorpius. She didn't believe for a second that he just out of nowhere wanted to talk to her Uncle. It had to be something else, but once she crept up onto her Uncle's office she did indeed see Scorpius inside talking to him.

Was she crazy? Paranoid? Or was there something she didn't know? Her curiosity took over and she reasoned that just listening for a few seconds couldn't hurt. If she heard anything that was personal she wouldn't repeat it to anyone and she would instantly back off. Rose just needed a clue to why he was acting so strange.

"-understand the sacrifices you have made, but you have no choice. You are a month away from her court date. I'm sorry, but I can't reassign you under any circumstance. Any change will put her in danger."

"How…Fine," Scorpius's voice lowered, "_I'll just have to tolerate it_."

Rose backed away from the door, her eyes narrowed and full of fresh tears. She wasn't much for crying. Unless it was because someone else was crying, she always saw it as something she thought she should just get out of her system and then stop. It wasn't a process that should carry on long and it wasn't something that should happen because of something like this.

Rose headed for the bathroom, found a stall, locked the door, and slid down the wall to the floor. She shouldn't have been upset, that's what she told herself anyway. That she shouldn't care and that he was just a guy she used to share a dorm with, go to school with, who happened to be in charge of her safety.

She didn't sob, or hysterically cry. It wasn't that type of sadness. The type where she felt so suffocated by the world that she could hardly breathe let alone stop the tears from flowing. No. This was the type where she was just walking having a great time, and she got hit by a truck, bus or a train. And she was too paralyzed at first by the force of it to react. Then when she did, the tears just slipped calmly down her face as she bent her head forward and stared at the stitching in the lining of her pants.

He didn't feel anything for her, didn't even like her. In fact he hated her. A passionate hatred if he did it enough to go to his superior to ask to be reassigned. The thing of it was, he was probably tired of her. Tired of hearing her sob stories, tired of pretending to care about her just to keep her safe.

It was all an act. They said it from the beginning. How stupid had she been to forget that?

It had been only two months. Yes, she had known him long before that, but that didn't matter. In just two months she let him get a hold of her. No one had half as close in years and somehow without even trying he had done so. How could she have let him knowing that once this was all over she would mean nothing to him? She was just his best friends cousin. Everything else was just a minor detail in the plan to put him in good job standing.

Merlin, she'd been a fool.

Such a great and stupid fool. He'd met her grandparents, her muggle grandparents and came with her every week to see them. Why? Why did he do that? It started off as a joke to get back at him for being a prick, but then after a while it became a habit and he never said a word. Her grandparents had never met a single boyfriend, fiancée, anything… her entire life. It always meant more to bring someone over to meet them, because they weren't from her world. And now she had and she saw her fault in judgment.

It was implied for her to trust him, but she normally didn't trust easily. There was a reason she had a select group of friends and an even smaller group of members that she kept in touch with. Once she read an article about how betrayal is too widely used. You can only lie, cheat or ruin anyone, but that doesn't make it a betrayal. A betrayal is when you expect that person not to do any of those things. When you trust them you are literally saying that despite everything you know about the world you are willing to believe in them.

Her lip bleed after she dug her teeth into it for five minutes, and at the sight of it she decided enough was enough. Hiding in the bathroom may have worked with she was a lowly fifth year with bad hair and unnaturally long legs, but now she was an adult and she would go out and face her problems.

Scorpius waited a bit before going back to his cubical. He knew Albus would never leave Rose so he had some time to get himself together before going back to her. It was simple; he was going to have to turn it off, all of it. Any flicker of emotion or connection he had for her would have to be severed. No more innocent pats on the shoulder or hugs. He'd have to take his father's technique and just compartmentalize everything. It used to be his natural reaction to life. There was a problem, he'd analyze it, pick it apart and then fix it accordingly. But Rose…she just got in there and she ruined him.

Naturally, he'd get a grip and do what had to be done. He was a Slytherin through and through after all. They were goal oriented, resourceful and determined to reach their ends….

Still as he moved through the asile way to his cubical, he didn't hear all the people around him. All he could think or see was what he was giving up. Flashes, images of it, came into his mind and they didn't stop until he saw Albus having a conversation with Rose.

It wasn't his intention to look directly at her. He was planning on spending the next three weeks not doing precisely that, but he slipped. She may have been paying attention to Albus, but her eyes were just ever so slightly red, like she'd been crying. Her chin jilted upward as soon as she noticed him, and he didn't understand why, but he refused to let himself think about it.

Instead he spoke with Albus, returned to his desk and worked on three different cold cases. He threw himself into work so hard that he didn't even notice they didn't get lunch until Rose's food was delivered to her.

"When did you order that?"

"An hour ago." She snipped.

His eyes traveled around and noticed she had not gotten him anything though she knew exactly what foods he liked. It wasn't like her. Rose always ordered for him even if he didn't ask or mention anything about it. Obviously he wasn't offended, as she didn't have to get him anything at all. But there was something wrong.

There was nothing he could though, because physically she was fine and that was all he was allowed to cared about. Everything else wasn't his problem. He couldn't care.

Once they were leaving he offered her his arm to apparate as he had to, and she grabbed his arm. It wasn't tight like it had been for the past two months, it was like how it had been the first day they side-along apparated with her barely hanging on. When she let go of him, she released him quickly like he was horrible disease.

Again, he felt a tug in his stomach to ask what it was, but he fought it. Instead he shut her front door, and went into the kitchen to make himself some dinner.

* * *

Rose had held on all day. Held onto hate, contempt, rage, all of it was firmly in her grasp and if she lost him she wasn't willing to let all of the rest of it go so easily. The bitterness overtook her and everything her mother ever taught her about being the bigger person and taking the high road just went right out of the window.

Clearing her throat she said cuttingly, "Sorry you couldn't get reassigned. Tough break."

Scorpius froze, before gulping and continued working. "I don't know what you mean."

"_Coward_."

His tongue pressed to the bottom of his mouth, as he stopped what he was doing to turn around and face her.

"Yeah, I called you a coward." She snarled, crossing her arms. "If you wanted to be rid of me you could have just had a chat with me. I could have talked to him for you. Told him how rotten this situation was. How disgusting you find me. Sorry you couldn't get an easier job, something that would probably look better on your resume."

Scorpius used all of his self-control to not take her bait. His hands gripped the front of the counter behind him. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"…How can you keep lying to my face? Are you soulless? Or just a bastard?"

He said nothing.

Her eyes stung with tears, "Working with me every day must REALLY be awful." She laughed coldly, "I'm so sorry that I have offended you by being nice. Or actually why don't you tell me what it was that suddenly offended you so much? HUH?"

Scorpius's grip on the counter tightened.

"Out with it Malfoy! Why don't you tell me?" She pushed him, "Huh?! HUH?! WHAT WAS IT? JUST TELL ME!"

He saw her tears and broke a little, but did everything he could to hold onto his resolve. It was nearly impossible to tell himself this was in her best interest when she was crying, but he had to.

"SAY SOMETHING!"

He trembled.

"You sure had plenty of say to everyone else BUT ME. So why don't you educate me? Are the hours to rough? Or was the human contact the part that was troubling you? Because I GUARAN-TEE YOU, THAT WON'T BE A PROBLEM ANYMORE!"

"_BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU_!" He roared involuntarily.

Rose halted; her damp stuck together eyelashes fluttered repeatedly in pure shock.

Scorpius's face was stunned, completely and entire stunned. Rose hadn't expected that at all, but Scorpius had been even more shocked that she was. They both just stood there in a standstill staring at each other until Rose moistened her lips and shook her head.

"But then why-"

"I can't protect you," He looked away from her furiously. "If …if…if I'm _compromised…emotionally_ I won't be able to do the job right."

Rose let out a low breath, gulping down her tears.

"And protecting you is what I'm supposed to do. I _need_ to protect you."

"I love you too." She declared boldly, staring at his shirt instead of at his face. Her face was all red, and she was still cradling herself, but her tone was firm.

Scorpius gaped at her. "…what?"

"I do…I didn't know until…until you said it."

"Neither did I." He admitted sheepishly.

"I, I thought you hated me."

Scorpius let out a soft laugh, "I could never hate you."

"You pushed me away so could leave?"

He hesitated, but then answered, "…Yes."

"So what now?"

"I have…I have to get distance. _I have to_ …"

Rose moved closer to him and cupped her hands around his trembling face. "_No you don't_. Your cover is to pretend to be my boyfriend."

"But last night. I could have gotten you killed."

"Nothing happened. It was harmless-"

Scorpius's eyes hardened on her. "_But what if it had?_ I was drunk and stupid and not thinking…"

"Then you won't do that again." She whispered, looking up at him.

"What if-"

"Scorpius, if you worry about all the what if's in the world you are going to drive yourself crazy." Rose interjected swiftly, rubbing her thumbs along his stumble. "I am safe now and pushing yourself away from me won't make me any safer. Thinking, and making logical decisions will."

He hung his head, leaning into her hands. "But-"

"_No_." She stopped him. "It's my life, and I don't feel safe truly safe with anyone else but you."

Before she could stop herself, she rocked forward on her tiptoes and gently kissed him. She used her hands to anchor him to her and lightly nipped on his lips. His arms slid around her to hold her, his hands clutched her back firmly as his fingertips indented into her skin tenderly.

Rose deepened the kiss, pushing more of her weight into him and felt the tears that had been on his face falling on her face, mixing with the tears lingering on her own face. When she pulled away, one of his arms wrapped all the way around her while the other hand clasped her face tenderly.

Scorpius rested his forehead against hers and sighed. Rose beamed up at him, her arms now balled up on his chest.

"You know, there I think there might be a monster under my bed." She began, trying to hide the laugh growing in her chest.

His eyes opened and they were filled with amusement. "Well I said I'd protect you from everything. So I suppose we should go check that out then?"

"I mean…if you don't mind."

Scorpius took out his wand, froze all the food he was making and intertwined his hands with hers and made way to the bedroom.


	12. When The Day Met The Night

_When the moon fell in love with the sun_  
_All was golden in the sky_  
_All was golden when the day met the night_  
**-Panic! At The Disco-**

* * *

Rose woke up shivering. She was confused as to why that was the case. Clearly she was under her covers, but she was still chilly. Peeking down she looked down, and she saw she was not wearing clothes. Not any underwear, or a single item covering her. Groggy, she grew confused, until an arm slipped around her and it all came back to her.

She had sex with Scorpius Malfoy… _twice._

Giggling to herself, she blushed at the memory of it. Yes, she was fully grown woman, giggling about having sex with a fully-grown man. It wasn't very mature of her, but she couldn't help it. All she could think about how it didn't take them long at all to work together. Of course it took a minute or two for them to become attuned to each other, but after the initial awkwardness…it was amazing. He was really responsive. Anytime she shifted or was about to voice any discomfort or a suggestion, he was already there fixing and improving the situation. As bad as it sounded, she never had been with someone that had been just as interested in her pleasure as they were with their own.

This wasn't something she could explain. Sure she had loved him, but she didn't know when that started. Was it when she first saw him? Was it when she began to really get to know him? Rose didn't know, but she knew it was too late now to take it back. They were here and however they got here there was no going back now. And she didn't want to either. There were plenty of times she'd felt happy in her life, but it had been a long time since she had felt this type of happiness. This all consuming, heart lifting feeling, wasn't something she had even come close to in so long, that she wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

Slowly she peeked over to see if he was awake, and she saw he seemed to be in between the stages of sleep and being awake. Slyly, she slipped her arm onto his and pressed it close enough to her that he could feel the outline of her naked body. Behind her she heard him inhale sharply as if he were committing to waking up.

* * *

Scorpius blinked, his eyes sleepy and his legs still stiff from sleep. Quickly he became aware that 1) Rose was awake, and 2) she was deliberately trying to give him a hard on. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, she had accomplished her goal.

He moved his arm off of her on purpose before moving it under the cover, linking his arm around her, cupping her chest and plastering her back to his front. His lips lightly brushed against the hall of her throat causing her to involuntarily gasp.

"Morning," He said in a hushed tone.

She gulped, her eyes closing and her neck arching back to give him easier access. "Ah huh."

"You sleep well?" Scorpius asked, his arms wrapped around her possessively.

"Yeah, you?"

"I had a naked woman right next to me." He smirked. "I've had worse nights."

Rose let out a low moan as his lips moved up and down the base of her throat rhythmically. "…_Scorpius_."

"I love when you say my name like that."

"Well if you…if you keep kissing my neck_ like that_, you're going to keep hearing it."

"Mhmm," He murmured, nipping at her shoulder.

Rose let out a shallow breath, and forced herself away from him. Grabbing a robe to cover herself up and standing up with a disappointed frown.

"What?" He asked, his grey eyes filling with concern. "What's wrong?"

"You have to go to work…if you start doing that. You'll never get there."

"I'm calling in sick." He declared.

Laughing, Rose shook her head, her messy red hair, frizzing up at the sides. "You can't do that."

"Yes I can. I have plenty. I've only taken four days off since I've started."

"Are you serious?"

He nodded.

"So…what will we do today?" Rose asked mischievously, leaning against the edge of the bed.

Scorpius leapt to his feet, and stood in front of her. His grey eyes fixed on her face. "Are you hungry?"

Her eyes shamelessly traveled down his naked body and she snickered. "Sure."

"…What do you want?"

Stepping forward, she drooped her robe and rested her arms on his shoulders. Her fingers went through his disheveled blonde hair and she grinned. "You."

He smiled at her, his arms sneaking around to rest on the small of her back. Then he bent down and kissed her. It wasn't a passionate kiss, it was light and gentle as if to convey how honestly he was happy to just be near her, but this subtly made the tension between them worse. So much worse.

At this simple touch, their collective breathing was even louder than it would have been if they had snogged. Her blue eyes were locked on his eyes, as they both began to grab each other more tightly. Then without a single word, they moved forward ravenously. His lips were on her intently while he simultaneously lifted her up. He staggered for a second, balancing the weight difference before her legs locked around his waist.

Since neither of them had a single thread of clothes on them, everything was much quicker than the first two times. His lips left hers and she began biting his shoulder. In one fluid moment, he hiked her up and managed to slide himself inside of her.

"_Oh my-_" She groaned loudly her nails cutting into his back, a shudder running down her chest to her toes.

"Hold on," He insisted huskily right before he moved her against the wall and started fervently pumping in and out of her.

"Fuck…" Rose breathed, curving her torso back against the wall.

Pinning her against the wall, his hold on her became so firm it felt like her hands were another part of her skin. Every time she made a noise it drove him to thrust himself into her harder and faster. Scorpius's mouth was scorching on her shoulder, his entire body tensing and spasming as he climaxed. She was only twenty seconds behind him, but instead of stopping, he saw she was close and kept going until her body tightened around him.

Scorpius leaned forward, resting his head against her chest exhaustedly. Rose ran her hands through his hair soothingly, her own heart rate having trouble falling to a natural pace. Sweat dripped down the pair of them and for a moment or two neither of them said anything. Eventually, Rose let go of him and glided down the wall, her bare feet gripping the floor for support. While she did this, his hands moved to her sides to help guide her and when he saw she was fine, he stoop his forehead on the top of hers.

"If you ever try and tell me you have to stay away from me again, I'll kill you."

Scorpius snorted. "Sod off."

"Seriously though…birth control potion…_best...idea…ever._"

"True." He said kissing her temple.

"Don't! I'm all sweaty!" Rose laughed.

He rolled his eyes, "So am I. You idiot."

"Whatever," Rose sighed, shifting away. "I need food…and a shower…and food."

"I'll make breakfast."

"Or," She began coyly, cupping his face, "We could just grab some toast and take a shower…_together._"

"Rose," Scorpius chuckled, looking down at her like she crazy. "I'm going to need more than a piece of bread, if you expect me to go again."

"Fine!" Rose relented, pouting slightly. "I'll take a shower, you can make breakfast." She promptly popped up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. "Scrambled eggs if possible please."

"I'll see what I can do."

Pulling on a pair of boxers, he moved into the kitchen and went to work. He cooked some bacon, eggs and toast. Cleaning up, Scorpius's put everything away, and left her plate out before he shoved his food into his mouth. It had been a long time since he had been this hungry. When he played Quidditch this was a normal, but he hadn't exercised this much for this long in a while. After he finished, he made a pot of coffee and looked around her flat. He'd been living there for a while, but he never got a good look around. She had pictures in the living room of her with her family and she didn't have a serious expression in a single shot. It seemed like she was incapable of taking a picture without making a face or striking a weird pose.

Looking at one, he found himself snickering at her. She was on James's back for a piggyback ride and Albus was on her back. In the picture, they held the pose for about three second, before James fell over with the weight of his brother and favorite cousin. She was beautiful even in her gawky years, but it was more than that. The thing he loved the most about her was that in not a single picture did she look depressed. Despite anything she faced, she always kept an optimistic deposition and put on a happy face. It was something his mum used to do too. He rarely saw people with that quality and it just lit Rose up from the inside.

Often he had been in this phase before, the honeymoon phase he'd heard Rose call it before, but this was the only time that wasn't blinded by it. He'd been in love with her for some time, but somehow he had arrived to a point he had never really reached before. Honestly he couldn't understand quite what it was really, but he knew something was different about them in a way he was sure no one else would be able to understand.

He wasn't naïve either. He'd give it a day or two before they'd get into a fight about something stupid and trivial, but there was just something about them. Something that just seemed to have sticking power. Distantly he wondered what would have happened if they had tried this years before. They had the opportunity, but neither one of them saw it at the time. Now, maybe they could have it.

* * *

"Put your memory in the pensive," Nott's right hand man, Caleb Lawrence, spat at the man to his left. "We aren't getting anywhere and we need to get a clearer ID.

The man in question took out his wand and drew out the memory with a condescending look on his face. He goatee twitched as he scowled. "There."

The collective fifteen men stood around the basin, there faces studying the details of her face. One furrowed his overly thick eyebrows, "Doesn't she look familiar to any of you?"

"No." All of them shook their heads.

The man with the thick eyebrows sighed, "I know I've seen her face somewhere…."

"Well, you better remember." Lawrence threatened him, his low voice thinning. "Because McHenry is going to draw out what she looks like and each of you is going to scan the entire damn country looking for her. Someone has to know her here. Ask everyone…Now go."

The goatee man didn't disappear like the others. He stayed put, even making an effort to light his cigar in front of the Lawrence.

"Well? What? Do you think you are exempt from this Jones?" Caleb Lawrence demanded, his foul-breath on the much shorter man.

"I'm too old to go on a wild goose chase. I've worked for Nott for thirty years. I'm not doing this low level grunt work."

"You will do it, or you will wake up with your wife dead beside you. Or are you forgetting how much Alexander Nott has done for you?"

Jones laughed, a cold low laugh. "And how is he going to punish me in prison? How do you think any of this is going to run if he's in prison?"

"He's made if very clear. His money is very vast and can't be frozen because it's not in Gringott's. So if he goes down all of you will... Now what's your choice?"

"I'll go snoop around the Ministry, but I'm not going door to door like some damn salesman."

"Fine, go, but keep in mind, if we don't find her." Lawrence spat, "I will tell him that you tried to weasel your way out of this, and you will die… painfully."

Jones waved his short fat arms around, "I get it._ I get it_. You wanker."

Jones left and arrived at the ministry. He grabbed a piece of parchment and made a check mark for every department he checked. Lawrence may have asked him to ask anyone he came across, but he wasn't that stupid. If this girl were under some kind of protection showing her picture would do nothing, but set off some alarms. There was no limit to how fast he would get out of the country, but Lawrence was right, Nott would find him. Alexander Nott was a slippery son of a bitch and if he'd learned anything working with him all these years was he would eventually get what he wanted no matter how many lives he destroyed doing so.

Almost through with the Ministry, Jones made a sweep through the cubical. The great thing about it was there were so many people walking around the Ministry no one ever stopped him or wondered what he was doing. This way if they did find the girl, no one would ever remember that he was around and he wouldn't be able to be connected to it.

It was scheazy and brilliant if he did so say himself.

Right before he started to plan how he was going to convince his wife to leave the country at a moments notice, he stopped right outside the Head of the Auror department's office. On any other day he would have stayed clear away from an office belonging to the boy who lived and defeated the Dark Lord, but he saw something inside.

On his desk were a lot of family pictures, but one stood out to him. It must have only been taken a few months earlier, but it was the same girl. Her hair was dark and in her face, and her eyes were blue, but the longer he looked the more he noticed she had the exact same smile and facial structure as the red headed girl in all the other photo's. At first he considered they were twins or just siblings that looked alike, but he never saw the dark haired girl in any of the other pictures. It could have easily been just one of those family look a likes, but something told him his instincts were right. And that was enough for him to go by. All he had to do was research the family tree and then if that was correct follow the family and see where they were keeping her.

With a plan locked down, Jones's walked with a little swagger to his stout little walk. Already he knew he'd reward himself with a rather large sandwich that would undoubtedly end up in his goatee by the end of the meal.

* * *

Rose was sitting on one of the bar stools, eating her breakfast merrily when she heard Scorpius walk out of the bathroom. "You have an entire wardrobe full of clothes, and…. you are wearing my shirt."

"Yep," She said smacking her lips and putting a fork full of eggs into her mouth.

Scorpius walked over, his face hovering centimeters above hers. "You're lucky you're cute."

"You think I'm cute?" She teased him.

"Rarely," He taunted, strutting away.

"Hold on." Rose stopped him, seeing him with just a towel around his waist. "What are you doing?"

Scorpius's hair was still wet from the shower and it was dripping down the sides of his freshly shaven face. "Putting on clothes. Why? Are _you_ going to _stop me_?"

"Maybe." She mumbled giving him a look.

"Ah huh. What are you wearing under that shirt Weasley?"

"Knickers…"

"No bra?"

"No bra."

Scorpius leaned forward, eyeing the mid-thigh pin striped blue buttoned down dress shirt. "Hmmm…interesting."

"Thank you for breakfast."

"You are welcome," He said the hand not holding onto his towel, understatedly unbuttoning her shirt.

Rose giggled leaning forward to snatch his towel away. He was built so well, and she was more than willing to go for that round two he had mentioned before. How they had managed to keep their hands off of each other this long was unbelievable to her. How could had she been able to ignore how attractive he was? Maybe she was just so determined to keep things professional that she was unable to see the obvious. Regardless now that they'd settled any and all debates about them being together, she saw no reason why she shouldn't be able to do as she pleased with him.

Her hand was touching the fabric, and she gave him an evil smirk as she started to motion to pull it away from him.

"Rose?" A voice called out, making them jolt apart in blind panic. "Rose?! Why is there a half naked man in your living room?!"

"MUM! ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"

Rose immediately turned her back on her mother to button up her shirt, her face flushed and her eyes wide in horror. Scorpius's face was just as red, and hers, and he seemed not sure whether he should leave or stay put.

"Hold on!" Hermione Weasley's gasped, "…Is that Scorpius Malfoy?!"

"MUM! Where do you get off flooing without owling first?!"

"I haven't heard from you in weeks!" Her mother snapped sternly. "You can't just disappear for weeks without a word and expect me not to worry."

"Um yeah! I can! Because I'm an adult!" Rose gripped her hair, "I can't believe I'm even having this conversation right now!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "_Don't be so overdramatic_….Oh and Scorpius you can go put some clothes on. You don't have to stay. I just fancied a quick chat with Rose."

Scorpius nodded politely, going into Rose's room.

The instant he did, Rose rounded on her mother. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"You should talk! You just acted like a teenager!"

"Maybe because, just like then you walked into my room without knocking!" Rose shouted at her furiously.

"It was my house, and you weren't allowed to have boys in your room anyway."

"That is completely sexist! Hugo was allowed to!"

"That's different. He wasn't allowed to have girls in his room anyway…"

"Hugo is GAY!"

Hermione grimaced, "Yes, well I didn't know that at the time. If so, I would have changed the rules to match his sexual orientation."

"Christ," Rose sighed throwing her hands up.

"You spend too much time with your grandparents."

"They are your parents. You are mad because I spend too much time with your parents? Really?"

Hermione let out a note of irritation. "I flooed to ask if you were coming to family dinner the day after tomorrow."

Rose pinched the arch of her nose, lifting her leg against her opposite calf. "Why are we having dinner?"

"It's your brothers birthday."

"…_Already_?"

"Yes, oddly enough it's the same day every year." Her mother said sarcastically.

"Um…I'll have to see if I can. I'll definitely send him something."

"Rose Weasley! You can't miss your little brother's birthday."

"For starters, we are adults now, so if I have to miss his birthday he will get over it and you will just have to deal with it. Second my job-"

Hermione' face fell. "Rose, your entire life can't be your job."

"It's important to me mum. I'd think of all people you would be proud of me for that. _You were the one that always wanted me to be goal oriented_."

"Yes, _but_ there are more important things. I want you to have a life…and it seems you've found one..."

Rose fought the laugh growing on her face, "Shut it mum."

"What is going on? _Are you two_…" Hermione made a gesture.

"MUM!"

She laughed evilly, "What?"

"I'm _not_ answering that."

"Your lack of clothes already says it all…Are you two a couple?"

Rose crept closer, eyeing her bedroom door carefully. "I think so. We haven't really had a chance to define it."

"Make sure you do. You don't want to run into problems because you don't communicate effectively."

"I'm fully aware of that mother."

After looking around to make sure no one could hear her, Hermione muttered, "He doesn't look to bad though."

"Merlin. I can't believe you just said that."

"And I also have heard he has a great career." Her mother added.

Rose shook her head with a smile. "Ah huh, but that doesn't matter right?"

"…Are you wearing anything under his shirt?"

Rose lifted up the shirt to flash her mother a pair of skimpy polka dot knickers.

"Rose!" Her mother laughed despite her best efforts not to.

"Goodbye!"

"Fine! Fine. I'll go, but you can invite Scorpius to dinner. I'm sure by then you'll have things sorted out."

Rose literally went into the kitchen, grabbed a pitcher of water and threw it on the fire, ending the conversation.

* * *

"So um," Rose laughed opening the door. "Sorry about that."

Scorpius nodded, as he sat fully dressed on her bed.

"…So bit of a buzz kill."

"Yeah. It's alright. We probably should slow down a bit and uh…talk anyway."

Rose grimaced, feeling this wasn't gong to head in a direction she was going to like. "Okay I'll just get dressed then."

"You don't have to."

"I'd rather not have an actual conversation not wearing trousers." She mentioned her smirk absent as she made a move for her closet.

This was not a conversation anyone enjoyed having. It was the choice between having a joyful good time and possibly never being able to enjoy the other persons company again. It was necessary because the good time always gets ruined when things aren't explained or defined, but this was the worst part. Somehow it didn't matter that they already said they loved each other and showed it. Now reality had come back and they had to think whether after he wasn't assigned to be near her whether they actually could function in a real relationship.

The worst part was that they were so similar it wouldn't be shocking if it couldn't work out. She sometimes had to travel for work and though he usually worked cold cases he was given the occasional undercover or active case. And then what? Would they live together? Would they be serious or would they try to take it slow? That route was kind of out the window considering how much they knew about each other. It was easy a moment ago, but one horrifyingly close visit from her mother and Rose was beginning to rethink every little thing.

"Okay," Rose stepped out of her closet, fully dressed, in a pair of dark jeans, and a tucked in violet blouse, his shirt in her hand.

"Why didn't you just wear it?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Uh…I didn't know where this conversation was going to go so…" She tossed his shirt onto the edge of the bed, standing with her feet apart. "You can start now."

"…What do you want?"

Rose crossed her arms. "What are my options?"

"What would you like them to be?"

She scoffed with a weak smile. "You aren't making this easy."

Standing he tucked his hands into his pockets. "I'm not trying to make it easy. I'm just trying to understand what we are doing."

"Well…we have_ feelings_."

"You mean, we love each other."

"Yes…_that._ So that would imply that we might be boyfriend and girlfriend?" She attempted.

He laughed at her expression. "Why are you so uncomfortable?"

"Because _the talk_ sucks. It's literally putting all of your cards on the table! And I know that's completely ridiculous considering everything we are and have done, but that's how it is."

"Do you want to live together?"

Rose shook her head guiltily. "Despite how are circumstances are…I want to wait until I'm married to live with someone."

"Do you want to get married?"

"Uh…I…uh…_what_?!"

He clarified, "I'm not asking you to marry me. I'm asking you if you want that for our relationship."

"Well I'd like to be together for a bit longer before we…_hurtle_ ourselves into that." She admitted sheepishly. "I know you know what I look like in the morning, and what foods I like and rubbish like that, but there's been nothing remotely normal about this relationship and that would be something I'd like to not be by the book, but be semi-normal."

"I agree."

"Thank you, Merlin!"

He eyed her, "What?"

"I don't know! I just thought you were going to say you weren't one for relationships or something so we wouldn't really work. Or we should just get married and I should start popping out kids…It was two _really_ emotionally scarring scenes."

"You don't want those things?"

"I want to eventually, but I want to be with you for a minute before we just go making …life decisions."

"That's very practical," He nodded. "And I feel similarly."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Can you _not _talk like a Malfoy right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are acting so formal."

He snorted, "I apologize."

"You're ridiculous."

"Yes, but you fancy me," He mocked her while he wrapped his arms around her. "And you're dating me, and you're my girlfriend."

Rose made a face at him. "I guess."

"No, you know." Scorpius said pinning her arms together as he kissed every inch of her face.

"YOU are such an idiot!" Rose laughed attempting to run away, but failing.


	13. All Fall Down

_Know that we all fall down_  
_Love till you hate_  
_Strong till you break_  
_Know that we all fall down_

**-OneRepublic-**

* * *

"Are you sure you can't miss work another day?" Rose mumbled, pressing her lips against his with a whine. Her long red hair tumbled into her face and her hands were tracing his face.

His hands gripped his hands around the curve of her hips longingly, but he still sighed and shook his head. "I took off yesterday. We have to go."

"Fiiiiine." She fell against him.

Scorpius kissed her gently, before shifting her off of him. "You never said what your mother wanted yesterday."

"Oh…My brother's birthday is tomorrow night and they are having a party."

"Are we going?"

Rose looked at him, trying to fight the smile that was growing on her face. "We can. I just wasn't sure at the time if I should go. Since I'm supposed to lay low and everything."

"Albus and your uncle are aware of the situation so it isn't a problem." He informed her as he slipped a shirt on over his head.

"You know if we go…we'll have to say we're together."

"I'm aware of that."

Rose tilted her head thoughtfully. "So you are ready for that?"

"It's not a big deal. I've known you for years. I've been best friends with Albus for decades and I've met girlfriends families before."

"Yes, but not my family. My family is… intense."

Scorpius snorted, looked over his shoulder at her and smirked. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Okay, but when my father interrogates you like you're the criminal don't give me any crap."

"I've worked with your father before. I can handle it."

"Okay," Rose shrugged in disbelief, leaping off the bed and walking into the bathroom. "I've had him scare boyfriends so bad they never came back."

"Well that's your fault for dating Erik Prince."

"Oh whatever," She said rolling her eyes. "Wait…_how_ did you know it was him?"

Scorpius paused in the doorway, unable to hide his amusement. "He ran from you whenever he saw you for a month and Damon got it out of Albus."

"Some cousin I have." Rose said undressing, reaching for her robe and moving towards the shower.

He backtracked and grabbed the tip of her chin. His cool grey eyes focused on her, "Your cousin is great. You just needed to bring a man home. Not a little boy."

"And you're saying you're a man?"

Scorpius drew close to her. "Are you implying otherwise?"

"May-be," She grinned, rising on her tiptoes and kissing him briefly, before moving around him. "I'll go jump in the shower. I'll make it quick."

"I'm not worried."

* * *

Working quickly the pair of them got themselves together and headed off to work. It was warm, so Rose was just in a simple pair of jean shorts and a blue top Lily had gotten her for her last birthday. They walked hand in hand down the street and instead of apparating straight to work; they stopped into a café and picked up some coffee, hand in hand. When they were standing and waiting in line, Rose yawned and took the hand that wasn't intertwined with his and hugged his arm. Her head rested on his shoulder, her eyes fluttering to close as she rested against him. Scorpius kissed the top of her head and tightened his grip on her hand.

"Do you want anything else besides coffee love?" He asked softly to not really disturb her.

"Mhmm. Just grab me something to nibble on. I'm not going to be awake until I get it."

His lips graze against her hairline as he spoke. "Okay."

"I love you," She murmured.

"Love you too."

Scorpius listened to the people around them eat and talk amongst themselves about various things. Some were trivial like politics or idle gossip, but in the corner he could distinctively hear a grandmother cursing her grandson on his career path. He found it interesting the way a bird found passers by. Always he had been a person that enjoyed being immersed by other people, but not have to actually communicate with them personally. For his lunch breaks he'd go, eat and then wonder silently how people were connected. It was what he'd always done, but now he was someone to be observed and he didn't mind in the slightest.

The place where Rose's head rested was warm, he watched and saw her make-up lifted eyelashes flutter occasionally as she somehow slipped off into sleep. He didn't understand how she could. Of course he could sleep anywhere through working in different types of conditions and maybe she had as well, but even he couldn't have fell asleep standing in line. He wanted to curl the arms she had stolen and curl it around her, but he didn't want to risk waking her. So instead, he tucked her head underneath his chin and drew her as close to him as possible without moving her.

They shifted to the counter and he had to get his wallet out of the pocket Rose was covering. "Rose, you have to move for a second." He said lightly adjusting to take his wallet out.

"Sorry," She apologized rubbing her eyes and then swearing when she remembered something.

He laughed under his breath grabbing their coffee tray while she grabbed the bag of food. "You okay?"

"I forgot I was wearing make-up. Did I smear it?"

"Yeah, here," He put down the coffee and used the pad of his thumb to fix her eyeliner. "All fixed."

Rose smiled, "Let's go then."

* * *

Half way into the workday, Albus headed over to Scorpius's office to ask him if he fancied some lunch. Somehow it had slipped his mind that Rose would be there with him, but when he saw her sitting next to Scorpius he paused for a moment. They only had a few weeks left now. Soon if he wanted to hang out with his best mate without his cousin's interference he could do it. So it wasn't a problem or anything, he just found it interesting how they continuously mirrored each other. Whenever she took a sip of coffee he would usually do so shortly afterwards. When he would adjust his position in his seat so would Rose. It was the way his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were with each other and Albus never in a million would have thought Rose would have had with someone.

He had always thought Rose's entire personal life was a maybe. Maybe she would fall in love again. Maybe she would get married. Maybe she would have children. Maybe for everything and most of that was still up in the air. She wasn't like Lily or Victoire, her path wasn't obvious or cut and dry. But still he hadn't thought she'd ever really connect with anyone. Not like this anyway.

Walking up to them, Albus saw Rose point to something on the case file and Scorpius muttering something to her.

"Hey," Albus said, frowning thoughtfully as the pair of them looked up at the same time. "How's it going?"

"Fine. Just closed the Gibbon's case, and working on the '91 Ledger murder."

Nodding, he said. "So are you two going to Hugo's party tonight?"

"Wait…Mum said it was tonight. Did they change it?" Rose questioned, making a face.

"Yeah, I think he couldn't get out of practice or something. So they've moved it to late tonight."

Rose grimaced, "What time?"

"9 o'clock."

"…_fuck_."

"You did get him a present right?"

Rose tossed a legal pad at him. "Of course I did."

"I'm just saying one year you just got him a sombrero and thought it was an adequate present." He teased her condescendingly.

"It was hil-arious!" Rose turned to Scorpius, "James made him wear it the whole night and told him if he took it off I would be personally offended and never get him a present ever again."

"Are you following all the rules?" Albus asked lowering his voice, growing more serious.

She sighed, dramatically. "Yes dad."

"Speaking of that. What are you going to say to him?"

"About what?"

Albus gestured to Scorpius.

Scorpius looked down at the file and said mockingly, "…it's cool I'm not sitting right here…"

"I'm just stating the obvious." Albus laughed.

"There's nothing to say. He's my boyfriend."

Albus gave her a confused look. "I mean yeah…but when this is all over-"

"You don't understand." She stated flatly, her face completely resolute. "He's my boyfriend."

Albus looked Scorpius dead in the eye and was taken aback to see he was completely serious too. He had figured they had grown feelings for each other. That much was obvious, but he didn't know that they'd accepted it and taken it a step further into being real thing. It was not at all what he had expected from them. Scorpius was the type that would have kept his personal and private life separate as possible, and honestly he never usually had much of a personal life. And Rose was never the type to make something serious. The past few boyfriends that he known of had been casual, almost to the point where using the term 'boyfriend,' seemed to not really fit.

"_Oh_." Albus noted.

"You are okay with…_this_?" Scorpius asked looking him over.

Albus looked them over apprehensively. "Why does it matter what I think?"

"You're his best friend." Rose replied simply.

"Of course I'm okay with it. You two look…happy." Albus shrugged, "I'd be more worried what James would think."

Rose smiled, "James thinks we've been dating this whole time. So I think he's fine with it."

"Then that's fine." Albus told them sincerely. "But you know it's going to be hell tonight. The teasing, taunting and interrogations will be often and ruthless."

"He can handle it." Rose assured him.

Scorpius smirked at the confidence in Rose's voice and said, "We'll see you there Al."

"Fine, but I'm bringing my girlfriend." His green eyes fixed on Rose, his finger pointing at her. "So no fights."

"Then tell her to shut her mouth. I'm not going to have her tell me anything."

"Please…for me."

Rose pushed her hair off her neck and relented. "Fine! Fine! I'll stay away from her…but I don't know what you see in her."

"I'm not judging your choices."

"Why? I'm better looking than your girlfriend is." Scorpius said arrogantly.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Albus snorted. "I'll see you both later."

"Bye moron." Rose called merrily earning a dirty look from her cousin.

* * *

Without a word, Scorpius gave Rose a look and they went back to working. Together they managed to think out a few suspects and find some areas that hadn't been investigated harshly enough. Scorpius thought about the day she wouldn't be coming to work with him and it saddened him, but didn't truly upset him. He'd worked by himself all his life and would have no problem going back to doing so. Though he would miss being with her this often.

Most people would have been driven mad, spending this much time with someone else, but they always gave each other space and learned when the other needed to be by themselves. It was a rhythm. Sometimes they were wrong, but they knew what to do if the other was irritable or angry. That didn't mean they wouldn't fight, but more they knew how to fix it afterwards, which he thought was more important anyway.

He didn't want to be like his father. His mother would yell at Draco and he would never say a word or comfort her after. Scorpius's father would just stand there and take it. It had always bothered him. Why didn't he do or say something? Didn't he care enough to try? Even when his mother died his father was barely around, and didn't really keep in touch. It had been years since he'd seen him and Scorpius didn't want to be like him. He wanted to be with someone that cared enough to call him out on his stuff, but also was willing to be there when he needed them to be. And for now at least Rose seemed to fit that bill.

"Okay, so I need a favor." Damon announced pulling Scorpius out of his thoughts.

"What did you do?" Rose questioned him, popping a hand on her hip at Damon. "Not owl a girl back and she's coming after you?"

He shook his head, a smirk oddly absent from his good-looking face. "I need you to watch Belly tonight Scorp."

"Who?...Is this some sort of magical creature that you have to keep away the ladies?" Rose asked wildly, her eyes filled with amusement. "No, tell me it's an out of control dog."

"It's my daughter." Damon proclaimed boldly.

Rose eyes widened. "Wait…your _what_?"

"She's two. Her mother died in child birth." Damon explained briskly, before focusing on Scorpius. "Will you do it?"

"Um…I was supposed to go over Rose's house tonight." Scorpius admitted guiltily.

"Where does she live normally?" Rose asked in bewilderment.

"She usually stays with her grandparents." Scorpius informed Rose with a sympathetic look.

"I have to work the late shift and I can't get out of it." Damon gave her a pleading look, "Please Rose. If I don't take her grandparents will try to fight for soul custody."

"I don't mind." Rose told him kindly. "Go to work. We will drop her off after your shift."

Scorpius looked at her, "Really?"

"I have like a million relatives. I'm use to kids."

"Thank you both," Damon kissed her and clamped his hands on her face, "You are wonderful and I owe you a drink."

Rose rolled her eyes. "It's fine you goof. When will she be here?"

"As soon as his shift is over…Honestly thank you."

"Oh sod off." Scorpius pushed him back with a laugh. "Just bring her over when she gets here."

Damon nodded and walked off with a relieved expression on his face.

"I can't believe he has a daughter." Rose breathed an hour later as Scorpius locked all of his stuff up and waited for Damon to return.

"He doesn't like to talk about it…Not because he's ashamed of her," Scorpius added quickly, "but because people then ask questions about who her mother is."

Rose looked at him softly. "What did happen to her?"

"She and Damon were…they were always on and off, but he loved her. He really did. And when she died, she took a lot of him with her." He stopped for a minute, getting a distant look on his face, before snapping back to reality. "Her parents sued for custody because of his job and the fact that he wasn't married to Erika when she died."

Sinking in her chair, Rose gasped. "But…he's always going on dates."

"Why do you think they never last? He's spent the past two years trying to distract himself from it…They let him see her once a week and every other week he gets her for a full night."

"Can't he get out of work?" Rose demanded in outrage. "That's ridiculous-"

Scorpius shook his head. "They usually spring the date of the visit up on him to trip him up. He has to call off earlier than the day of to get it off and they know that. They don't think he's fit to be a parent."

"That's horrible…"

"I know," Scorpius stiffened and then a bright smile worked across his face. "There she is."

Rose got up and saw a little girl with long blond hair and big dark blue eyes. She had her father's features, except her jaw line, it was much softer. The little girl had to be at least five years old, she couldn't be only two, but then Rose noticed how she sucked her thumb, how glued she was to her father's arm and she could see it.

"Belly," Damon said to his daughter using a warmer tone than Rose had ever heard him use. "This is Rose, she's going to play with you and Scorpius for a few hours while daddy finishes up work okay?"

"Okay." She mumbled adjusting her bright pink top.

Rose bent down so she could be eye level with the girl. "Hi Isabel. It's nice to meet you. I hope you don't mind playing with me…Do you like swings?"

Isabel nodded enthusiastically.

"Well then we will have to take you to play on some. Is that okay?"

"Yeah!" Isabel said.

Rose put her hand out to see if Isabel would grab it and after one tentative look at her father she did. "Come on then. We'll go on an adventure and then we'll come back for daddy okay?"

"Okay." She mumbled, gripping Rose's hand carefully.

"She's friendly," Damon smiled ruffling his daughter's hair affectionately. "I'll only take a few hours. Make sure she doesn't eat-"

"Grape juice or pineapples," Scorpius interjected knowingly. "We've got her Damon."

"I know. You've watched her before…" He let out a breath, and dropped down to talk to his daughter. "I love you, be good Belly alright?"

"Bye daddy," She let go of Rose's hand momentarily to wind her arms around Damon's neck. Isabel kissed Damon's face repeatedly, making her father laugh.

"Bye sweetie."

* * *

After Scorpius played hide and seek with Isabel, Rose chased her around the playground and then finally Isabel started to get sleepy when Scorpius pushed her on the swings. It was actually a lot of fun for both of them. Rose was surprised. She had heard Damon usually left Isabel with him when he couldn't watch her, but he didn't expect it to come so naturally to him. It was adorable to her.

When they sat down on a nearby bench, Isabel quickly curled up across their laps and fell asleep with her head on Rose's thigh.

"She is adorable." Rose murmured running her hands through Isabel's blond hair absentmindedly.

"It's all Erika I assure you." Scorpius teased, though the expression didn't stay there long. As the darkness of the night began to creep up on him, he frowned watching at the falling sun.

"What's wrong?" Rose questioned.

Scorpius took a second before looking at her. "Just…thinking."

"What about?"

"Being a father…I always… I'm worried."

"Look at me." Rose told him quietly. "When you chose to have kids. You'll be fine."

"But my father wasn't..."

"How so?"

"He's never been there." Scorpius whispered, "My job can make it difficult, but if I had a wife, or kids I would be there. I may not or do the right thing, but I would still try."

"That's all you need to do. My father didn't always make the right decisions, but he was there. And you would make a great father." Rose reassured him earnestly.

"You think?"

She nodded, leaning into him. "You aren't distant like your father is. At least not with people you care about. You always have been there for Al and given the fact that Damon assumed you would be fine with babysitting Isabel it's clear you've always been there for him too."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair. "I just don't want to continue the tradition of being cold and detached."

"You won't. You know why?"

"Because you won't let me?" He half-teased.

"Not even that…You won't become like your father because your mother taught you there was another way and that has stuck with you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Your father means well, but he isn't half as kind or as thoughtful or playful as you are. And I know it's because of her because of the way you talk about her. So just hold onto that." Rose said kissing his shoulder lightly.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and sighed softly. "Thank you."

She nodded visibly. "We should drop her off soon. Damon should be off by now."

"Do you need to change before we go over your parents house?"

Rose nodded into his arm.

"Then we will drop her off and head back to your house okay?"

"That sounds fine."

He put his hand in hers and rubbed his thumb along the side of her hand. "We should go love."

"In a minute." Rose said distantly. "Let's just stay like this for a minute or two more."

Scorpius saw her red hair breezing in the wind and felt her breathe against him. Damon didn't set them a specific time so an extra minute or two wouldn't hurt.

* * *

Apparating outside of her building, Rose and Scorpius moved into her building sluggishly. Rose cracked her neck and groaned while she forced herself up the steps. Every time she stopped, a pair of firm hands would guide her forward making her giggled with exhausted amusement.

"I felt like today went on forever," Rose yawned, pushing her hair out of her face. "Is it just me?"

"It's because you still have to go over your parents house." Scorpius mentioned with a worn smile, trailing behind her.

"Right…Fun."

"You'll be fine. We will make an excuse to leave early if you really can't make it through."

"I will hold you to that," She said grabbing her key and moving towards the door.

Abruptly, Scorpius's hand shot out and grabbed her arm suddenly, his face pale and alert.

"…What's wrong?"

"I dunno…" Scorpius stayed perfectly still, his eyes flickering around. "Something…" His eyes grew when he looked at the door. "Rose step back."

Hesitantly she moved the foot and a half back, her sneakers squeaking against the floor.

"Towards me, slowly." He said in a low voice.

Rose did what he said, her eyes wide in fear. "What is it?"

"Listen…" Scorpius ordered her.

She strained her ears and didn't hear anything at first, but then she heard a faint ticking noise. "How did you even hear that?"

"I didn't." He replied briskly, "We have to leave. You aren't safe." Carefully he navigated her back to him, grabbed her hand and started sprinting to catch up.

"Where are we going?!" Rose breathed, "Back to the Ministry?!"

He opened his mouth to reply, but anything he would have said would have been silenced out by the large blast that sliced through the building. A fire broke out, across the building as their feet pounded on the pavement, but they didn't have the time to turn around. Men, dozen's of men, in pitch-black robes appeared and began to shoot spells at the pair of them.

Scorpius's grip on her was unbreakable, he didn't take out his wand or say anything, he just took hold of her and apparated.


	14. Hold Onto What You Believe

But hold on to what you believe in the light  
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight  
**-Mumford and Sons-**

* * *

Once they landed, Rose's began to panic. She didn't know where Scorpius had taken her, but she did know that all of her belongings were ashes now. And if Scorpius hadn't been doing his job, if he hadn't been paying attention they both would have been burned to death. The thought chilled her bones and made her pulse quicken.

"Where are we?" Rose demanded as soon as she saw that Scorpius was still next to her.

"Barcelona, Spain." He answered focusing on the tall older buildings surrounding the up hill street. "I just thought of somewhere safe."

"And you thought of Barcelona?"

"Safer for you than London right now." Scorpius pointed out, his body still tensed in preparation for a fight.

Rose looked around in awe. She'd been to Madrid, but never Barcelona. And this wasn't exactly the way she wanted to visit. "I don't have much money on me. Do you?"

"Enough to find somewhere to stay for the night. Right before we leave, we will send an owl to your uncle and Al."

"Where are we going after this?"

"We have to get away for a few days until I can get a better idea of what we should do."

She put her hands in her hair, her lips rolling back in apprehension. "Okay…Okay…um I guess there's nothing else we can really do."

"If your life is placed in danger they can move up your trial date." Scorpius informed her. "So this will speed it up and then it will be all over."

"That's fine…" She breathed, her eyes unclear, "I'm not trying to be materialistic, but just all of my stuff…Everything, _it's gone_…and…"

Her voice drifted off and she didn't finish her sentence. Tears did build up in her eyes, but she didn't cry. Scorpius wasn't unfazed, he was still ready to act, but his Auror training had prepared him for sudden emergencies. The one thing he hadn't been prepared for was the possibility that seconds earlier she could have died. He was always willing to lay his life on the line for his job, because he full heartedly believed in what he was doing and couldn't think of a more honorable reason to die. One thing he was sure of though was they had to collect themselves in the empty alleyway he had transported them to.

"We need to change our appearances and get a hotel-"

"I have to contact my family," She interrupted him shakily.

Scorpius stared at her and said, "Rose, you can't-"

Her eyes turned on him sharply. "I was supposed to be there in a half hour. Albus and my uncle are Auror's, they will hear about my flat and they will think I'm dead."

"…It's too dangerous."

"The Death Eater's saw us escape! They know we survived! There's no new risk!"

Scorpius was going to fight her, but he could hear by her tone that she was going to do it anyway. "Okay. I'll go. You turn yourself invisible and stay right here."

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm going to see your cousin Teddy. I saw him on the active duty list for tonight. Since he's not closely related they won't be watching him."

Rose gulped. "Okay…yeah…that makes sense."

Scorpius cupped her face fiercely, his eyes boring into her. "I will be back. Stay here. Don't move. I'll be back in a minute."

Nodding, she leaned into his hand, her eyes closing and her lips trembling.

"Rose_, hey_. Love,_ look at me_. You will be okay. We will be okay."

"…You could have died. We were so close…" She stammered, holding it together the best she could.

Scorpius pressed his lips to hers urgently, with so much passion that she had to grab onto him to stay standing. Pulling away, he anchored himself to her. "I won't let anything happened to you," He vowed.

"You better not let anything happen to you either." She told him threateningly. "Because if something happens to you…"

He laughed; it escaped his lips before he could stop it. "Why do you look like you'll hurt me if it does? That's rather counter productive."

"I don't care." She said venomously, shaking her head. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not going to."

"Then go, I'll be fine. They can't trace us and even if they can I can hold my own until you get back."

Scorpius's chest tightened visibly. "_No_, don't fight them. There are too many of them. Just stay invisible until you see me. Don't be a hero."

"I'm not going to just follow orders Scorpius. If they come after me I will fight." She told him honestly. "I was raised by an Auror. I'm not going to just sit back while you do everything."

His face softened, and he bent his head. "I know. I know and that's what I love about you, but please listen to me…It's my job to keep you safe and that's all I'm trying to do."

"Good, because I don't want anyone to die because of, or for me."

"I won't. There will be no dying." He promised.

"Good…because I'm just now getting over the loss of my pillows."

Scorpius gave her an incredulous look.

"What?" Rose asked innocently, "They were really good pillows. I just got them a month or two ago."

"You can buy new pillows."

"I don't know_…they were really nice pillows."_

Rolling back his lips, he hid his amusement. "…I'll be right back."

She kissed him lightly before taking out her wand and turning herself invisible. He moved and after a faint pop he vanished.

Once he was gone, the smile faded off of her face and she moved to rest against a washed out brick wall. In the distance, she could hear taxi's whizzing by and heard Spanish being spoken by all of the passersby and that's all she tried to focus on. She wasn't going to cry, kissing Scorpius had absolved that need from her, but she was still wasn't steady on her feet quite yet. If she had wanted to she could have become an Auror herself, she even took all of the tests, but since she never took it past that she wasn't immune to it all. Her pulse was pounding in her throat, her head arched back against the wall behind her, as she slipped a bit down it.

When she was little, her biggest fear was that on one of her father's mission's either he or her Uncle Harry wouldn't make it home. It was a much safer world than what her parents had grown up in, but there was still a possibility that the world could slip back into that and here was the proof. Was there always a possibility that she could be targeted because her parents were war hero's? Of course, but Lily, James and Albus were more likely targets, than she and Hugo were and no harm had ever come to her three cousins. After 24 years of nothing the only problem she faced because of her name was that people simply didn't take her seriously. They thought she was just a famous name and had no merit of her own, but leave it to her to take that and run with it until the reason she was hunted down was entirely based on her own decisions.

Scorpius had mentioned that the court date could be raised if there was a need for it and she hoped he wasn't lying for her benefit. Even if she left them out of it, what if she had brought Damon's daughter to her flat? What if one of her relatives had dropped by when she was out?

The problem wasn't her completely destroyed flat; it was what this act symbolized. She loved her things and was sincerely upset that everything was gone, but what was sending chills down her spine was the fact that they'd gotten so close and had gone to such lengths to kill her. If they'd been slicker, if Scorpius hadn't been doing his job, if she had distracted him in anyway…

_No_, she had to stop thinking like that.

That was a lesson. A lesson that she had to just be more careful and more attentive to her surroundings. Somehow she had let herself get so caught up in …everything, that she allowed herself to forget. While she stood there, she saw Connor's face so clearly. He'd been so terrified and she never found out how or why he got caught up in the whole thing, just that he had.

They would be okay. They just had to be smart and think on their feet. They could do it.

Her knees were weak, but the longer she leaned against the brick wall, the stronger she became. She knew Scorpius would come back, but she knew that because she knew him. The problem with that was that he might not get a choice. Scorpius could be delayed, taken or something could stop him from coming. Rose couldn't assume that he would be able to protect her. She had mentally prepare herself for this and have a plan.

Jilting her chin out, she focused her breathing and got herself together. Freaking out was a perfectly reasonable response. There had been a trauma and she had every right to react to that, but that time was over. Now she had to get her shit together and manage her feelings. Otherwise she was going to end up dead regardless of what anyone else did.

* * *

At the Weasley's Hugo, Lily, Victoire, Dominique, Molly, Lucy and Fred were all sitting around the massive dinning room table talking amongst themselves while their parents mingled in the kitchen and living room. There were a few of their number that hadn't arrived yet; Louis for example was in his seventh year and wouldn't be able to leave the castle since he still had a month of school left. The rest of the kids, uncle's and aunt's that were missing would arrive through the hours and despite their busy lives and obligations would stay together until the late hours of the night.

Lily clapped her cousin Hugo on the shoulder, and grinned at the excited look on his face. "So…did you find out yet?"

"I'm pretty sure they've gotten me the broom I want!" Hugo muttered eagerly, putting his arm around his cousin and squeezing.

"I'm sure they have. When have your parents ever not gotten you what you wanted?"

Grinning good-naturedly, he ran a hand through his curly brown hair. "When I was little I wanted darkness powder."

"I remember that. They told you absolutely not," Lily giggled, nudging him. "But Rose found a way to get it for you anyway and they grounded her for a month because you used it to punch Phil Roth in the face."

"…_That was so great_." He breathed in pure happiness. "He never bullied me again after that."

Lily checked her watch. "…Where is Rose?"

"I dunno. I'm sure she'll show up eventually. You know she hates big family events."

"That's just because of them," Lily gestured to the older adults. "They always want to hound her about her career, romantic life and goals for several hours, which is hysterical to watch…She gets so mad!"

Hugo nodded with a smirk. "And then her face gets all red."

"Hey Al!" Lily called as her older brother stumbled into the room. Her big brown eyes narrowed in concern at his appearance. "Al? …_What's wrong?"_

Albus glanced at his sister for a second, but didn't let his watery gaze linger. His face was full of soot, and the scent of his dirty clothes carried across the room, smelling forcefully of smoke and ash. His eyes were bloodshot and Lily could have sworn she could see the emotions building his throat.

"Where's dad?"

Lily pointed to the next room, but she leapt to her feet surprisingly quickly considering the tight dress she was wearing. "Why the bloody hell do you look like that? Where have you been?" She asked trailing after Al.

Albus just shook his head coldly to avoid answering.

He headed into the kitchen, and sought out his father single-mindedly. The others immediately pounced on him, questioning him ruthlessly. His grandmother even attempted to clean him when he moved past her, but he pushed her off. His green eyes locked on his father's, and he said, "I need to talk to you. Now."

"What is it?" His mother asked, stepping in front of him.

Albus looked stricken by his mother's presence. "There was an bombing. It took out the top floor of a building and ruining the building."

"That's terrible," Hermione gasped putting a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Was anyone hurt?"

Struggling, he hung his head, his shoulders heavy he said in a broken voice, "Anyone that was in the building was incinerated."

"Merlin…" Ron sighed, looking distraught, "What wizard lived there?"

"Was it a political attack? Terrorism?" Hermione wanted to know, her eyebrows puckering together while her husband rubbed her shoulders.

Albus's eyes returned to his father's and he said, "No."

"Then what-?" Ginny questioned in confusion, but was interrupted by her husband.

_"No_." Harry breathed in horror, understanding the look on his son's face. "_No._"

"I tried to get in there…but the entire building is broken apart. The imperial squad is already there trying to make sure the area is secure…Witnesses said they saw two people…They saw them come in, but no one saw them come out."

"What aren't you saying?" Ginny questioned her husband apprehensively, her brown eyes rounding on her husband. "_Who_ was it?"

"It was Rose…" Albus blurted out before he could stop himself. "It was her building."

* * *

"You. Had. _ONE JOB_," Alexander Nott said in a cold voice glowering at his lawyer, radiating waves of hatred.

"We have figured out who she is and I assure you, they are hunting her down-"

"_She is a Weasley,"_ He growled darkly. "She will have protection, she will have allies."

The young lawyer shook his head vigilantly. "They will use all of the connections we posses and use her ties against her if necessary. We _will_ find her."

"Who botched this?" The much older man demanded, his heavy eyebrows crunched together.

He stammered, "Um I'm not sure…I only just heard."

"This is the last visit I'm allowed to have. I want a name. I want to know who is to blame for the reason I am still in here." Not snarled, no longer having any pretense of being civilized. "If you don't tell me, you won't make it home tonight."

"It was Jenkins. He jumped the gun and didn't get authorization." His lawyer told him urgently, his eyes pulsing with fear; sweat dripping down on his forehead as he spoke.

"I want him executed, publically. I want everyone to see it happen to serve as a message and a reminder that bars will not stop me."

The lawyer looked uneasy. "Okay sir."

"Because if I get sent away for good I may lose my power, but think of what will happen to you. Are you really thick enough to believe anyone will hire an ex employee of mine?"

Hesitantly, he said, "I will do what you need me to do."

Alexander Nott gritted his teeth. "Good. That's what I like to hear. I want the girls head by the end of the week."


	15. The Scientist

_Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry  
You don't know how lovely you are  
I had to find you, tell you I need you  
Tell you I set you apart  
_**-Coldplay-**

* * *

_Every story, every life, everything has a beginning and has an end. _

_Rose tasted the steel blood coming from her split open lip, her head ached more than any headache, migraine or head injury she had ever had before. Her breathing was shallow and her vision was blurry, but she held on, knowing she had to get back to Scorpius, knowing he wouldn't be able to make it out without her._

* * *

"It's been a week," Hermione paced back and forth, her hair frizzy and her face make-up free. "We should have heard from them by now."

"It's a good sign." Albus reassured her, rubbing his eyes. "They are supposed to go off the grid. We know they are alive and that's all that matters."

Hugo sat back in his chair and rested his long arms on the dinning room table. "How do we know they are still alive?"

"They wouldn't make it subtle if they weren't. It would be a statement." Albus said with a sigh.

"Ron's looking into every lead…" Hermione said her voice breaking, "I just…"

Hugo stood up; he was a good foot taller than his mother so she looked like a child as he pulled her into a hug. He rubbed her back soothingly with a grim expression on his face. Everyday they didn't hear anything the family became more and more anxious. If it were Lily they wouldn't have given her a choice, they would scavenge the earth for her, but Rose was more resourceful than Lily. She wasn't as self sufficient as Albus, but they had learned to trust her. It wasn't like she ever really gave them a choice.

"She'll be okay." Hugo told her, looking over at Albus. "You said they moved up her court date?"

Albus nodded, his hands wrapping around the teacup. "It's a week from now."

"How did you tell her?"

"Teddy's in contact with Scorpius." Albus said, "Which is smart since no one can duplicate Teddy."

"He met Scorpius the first time…When's the next time they are supposed to meet?" James spoke up for the first time, his thick eyebrows knitting together in thought.

Albus looked at his brother in confusion. "I don't know…Why?"

"Because they may not be able to use Teddy, but how much do you want to bet they took some of Rose's hair out of her hairbrush before they blew her place up?" James said in a low voice.

"…Son of a bitch." Albus muttered, rushing up to his feet. "They'll torture their location out of him."

James followed his brother, leaving Hugo to comfort his mother.

* * *

They'd been staying in this little town off the coast of Naples. It was one of Teddy's safe houses and they'd been there long enough to know where to go for everything. They both spoke fluent Italian so they had no trouble getting around. Scorpius had finally passed out, after days of not letting himself fall asleep and so she went out and got some food. She had been careful, she used the same disguise she'd been using since she arrived and made it back before sundown.

When she came back, she put the food away and went to go check on Scorpius. She'd left a note and let him sleep. He probably only got a few hours, but he needed what little he could get. Rose closed all the blinds, locked the doors and took off her disguise. Rose walked over, expecting to see him sleeping on the couch, but saw the blanket she had put over him and the pillow he'd been using fallen on the floor.

Her heart stopped.

She dropped her bag and she charged into the bedroom. He wasn't there.

Rose's heart began to pound so hard in her chest it hurt. "SCORPIUS?! SCORPIUS?!"

There was no response. She didn't know what to do. Frantically, she searched all four rooms and didn't see a trace of him. All of the worst situations started circulating in her head and she grew more and more terrified. The front door opened, and Rose dropped behind the couch. The steps were even, but gradual, like they were careful and suspicious.

"You better be Rose." Scorpius growled threateningly. "Because **I swear**-"

Rose popped up, her face full of relief. "Thank Merlin…"

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!" He roared, his jaw locked.

She was about to move forward, but she stayed put, her face filled with anger. "I left a note. I'm sorry if I-"

"You weren't supposed to leave my sight!"

"Would you stop yelling at me?! We needed food! I went and got some! I disfigured myself. We are in Italy! It's not like someone would have recognized me!

"I'm trying to keep you alive!" He shouted. "And you keep doing everything in your power to get yourself killed!"

"Just go then!" Rose shouted, her face hardened in anger. "I don't care. I can take care of myself. You can just tell them I ran off. I don't need you to baby me!"

"This isn't your fault anyway…" He muttered, his lips thinning.

"Yes it is! Okay! I'm _FULLY aware_! I probably distracted you and I wasn't as safe as I should have been-"

"NO!" He cut her off again, "YOU MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU!"

Rose scoffed, moving around the couch and growing closer to him. Her face growing red she screamed back, "I DIDN'T MAKE YOU DO ANY-THING!

"_YES. YOU. DID_."

"You could have said no! You could have walked away! You could have not taken this assignment from the beginning!"

Scorpius's jaw dropped slightly and his breathing slowed. "…You think I had a choice?"

Rose noticed his change of tension and took a second to respond. Her heart was racing, her blood pumping with rage, but longer she looked at him the calmer she became. He still looked furious, but under that there was a raw vulnerability she had never seen so openly.

Placing her bottom lip between her teeth, she slowed down her breathing and said, "You always have a choice."

"No I don't…" His voice lowered and his gaze dropped, "Not when it comes to you."

"Scorpius-"

"And maybe you would be fine without me," He started in a defeated voice. "But I wouldn't be fine without you."

Softening, she stepped forward, and without hesitation she cupped his face in her hands. He leaned in as soon as she touched him, his jaw twitched and his body tensed. She could see he was trying to stay impassive and controlled, but he couldn't. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was everywhere and his face was unshaven, which wasn't like him at all. Her eyes filled with concern.

"Scorpius," She said in a gentle voice. "You don't have to always be so strong all the time. Okay?...And you're wrong. I can't bare the thought of something happening to you…_It rips me up inside_…and I love you. I'm scared too, but we can't turn on each other."

"I know." He exhaled, his anger fading.

"We will get through this."

"I know." He said, his hands moving to hold onto hers. "I love you."

She reached up and kissed him tenderly, her lips lingering on his. "I love you too."

"When I woke up…" He inhaled sharply, "And you were gone…_I thought_…"

Rose's eyes filled with tears as his sentence drifted off. "Come here."

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she gripped onto him. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, his arms snaked around her back and pulled her against his chest. He buried his face into her shoulder, the smell of her reassuring him and she ran her hand through his hair to calm him. Tears flowed down his face, but eventually he stopped shaking, but still he wouldn't let go of her. The feeling of her bond around him, holding him… He couldn't let go of her.

"I promise you," She told him, "I'm not going to leave you."

He nodded, pulling back, but not letting go. "Good."

"I just wanted you to get some sleep," Rose laughed humorlessly. "You looked like hell."

"I can't sleep without knowing you're safe." He traced her cheekbones concernedly. "…You're getting too skinny."

Rose frowned, bending her head downward. "It's not from lacking of eating."

"Stress." He stated simply.

"Yeah…I just can't wait for this to be over."

Scorpius pushed his hair back with a sigh. "I agree."

"Come on." Rose slipped her hand into his and walked with him to the bathroom.

"What are we doing?"

"You need to shave. You're meeting Teddy later and I don't want you looking like a hillbilly." She informed him, hiking up to sit on the counter, while grabbing shaving cream and a razor.

Scorpius smiled for the first time in days. "What are you going to do?"

"Obviously shave you."

"I don't know how I feel about this..."

"Oh relax," She rolled her eyes as she applied the cream to cover his facial hair. "This is actually pretty normal."

"Oh? You do this often do you?" He mocked.

Rose smirked. "My dad always misses a spot and Albus used to be awful at it. So yes. I do know what I'm doing."

"Okay." His throat clenched as she picked up the razor.

"Okay, arch your neck…and loosen up… You trust me don't you?" She said noticing how uncomfortable he looked.

"I'm letting you put a razor to my face and throat… I'm doing the best I can here." Scorpius said stiffly.

Rose smiled, as she began to work. "I'll get you all cleaned up. Then we will take a shower and you can make dinner."

"We?" He said quietly trying not to move too much.

She grinned as she finished up and washed his face with a towel. "Someone's gotta make sure you don't pass out in the shower."

"Ah huh." Scorpius grinned, snatching her up into his arms. "That's why, is it?"

"Of course what other reason could it be?"

His grin faded and he bent his head. "I'm sorry about before…I shouldn't have yelled."

She let out a breath and frowned, "You were scared... It's been a lot of pressure and I know it's a lot to deal with."

"Still…you didn't deserve it."

Lightly she leaned up and kissed him. "It's in the past."

Despite her claims, he took a shower alone while she tidied up a bit. He kissed her cheek while she cut up all the vegetables and moved to start cooking.

"See I told you I could do something in the kitchen." She grinned proudly.

"And you are even doing it the muggle way." He snickered. "I'm so proud of you."

Rose threw a few pieces of carrots at him. "Sod off!"

Both of them worked, when Scorpius heard something move outside. In a flash he grabbed Rose's wrist and ran with her. She let out a little yelp of surprise but one look at him and she kept her mouth shut.

He pulled her beside the bed. "What time is it?"

"6:22." She mumbled, gripping her wand.

"I was supposed to meet Teddy in fifteen minutes." Scorpius muttered.

Rose grimaced. "Teddy's a half hour early to everything."

"Fuck."

"Do you think the place is surrounded?"

Scorpius shrugged, his back flattening against the wall. "All I know is we can't apparate out of this house, but if we can break out and make it to the apparation line, we could be okay."

"You _know_ they've surrounded the place."

"Yeah… I was hoping you wouldn't figure that out." He said distantly, looking around thoughtfully.

Rose glared at him, her shorts hiked up and her tank top sticking to the sweat on her back. "_Don't you fucking dare_."

"What?"

"You're going to cause a distraction so I can get away."

"I never said-"

"I _know_ what you're thinking." She shot at him darkly. "And I'm telling you right now, we fight together or run together, but I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for me…I'm serious, I will be that idiot girl who fucks up the hero's honorable plan. I'm not afraid to fuck that up."

Scorpius gritted his teeth. "You have to be the most stubborn girl I've ever met."

"I'm sure I am."

"Fine…I'll throw darkness powder, you blow up the kitchen and then we will go out through the back door."

"There's a back door?"

"Yeah."

Rose locked eyes with him. "We'll be okay."

"I know." He kissed her fiercely, "Now move."

* * *

Rose struggled in her chains, but knew her attempts were futile. They had caught her. Well more they had ganged up on the pair of them, trapped them, tied them up and brought them back to where ever the hell they were. It was an abandoned church cellar, she could tell that much. If Scorpius was with her she could bounce ideas off of him and together they could figure out how to get out, but in his absence all she could think about was whether they kept him alive or not.

They didn't need him. They needed her, and that thought sent chills down her spine.

He would be okay. He had to be. She couldn't let herself think anything else. The men around her sneered and cackled at the sight of her in chains. They would torture her and bleed her dry like a stuck pig. This was her punishment for daring to go against a Death Eater.

Her lip was split; there was a bump along her temple from where they had punched her, but she was good enough to get by. Her main priority was finding out where Scorpius was and getting him the hell out. They weren't going to stop coming for her even if she someone managed to escape, but he could get away.

Desperation became her ally, as she forced the tears growing in her eyes back down. This wasn't the time to lose it. She knew her death wasn't a question anymore, but if she could help Scorpius in some way maybe it wouldn't be in vain.

The men, whose grip on her had been so cruel and cold chucked her into what looked like a holding cell. Skidding across the dirty floor, Rose felt her knees scrape and knew they would probably bleed. Forcing herself up, her body ached and she groaned at the movement. The room had a window, but it wasn't enough for her to crawl through and it wasn't like she could jump up that high anyway. She needed a wand. Without one she couldn't even go down fighting properly.

"Get your fucking hands off of me! Tell me where she is or _I swear_-!" The threat died on Scorpius's lips the minute the connected cell door was opened and he was tossed inside. His threat didn't end because of the movement, it ended because through the bars he could see her.

Crawling over quickly, he gripped the bars separating them. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?" She moved to the bars, scanning his face for injury.

"I'm better now." He said with a sigh, intertwining his fingers with her.

She rested her head against the bars, her eyes closing temporarily. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"_This_."

"Hey," He said sharply, "Don't you dare."

Rose shook her head. "You shouldn't be here... Promise me when you get out you'll stay away from here."

"When _we_ get out…Remember?" He whispered roughly.

"Promise me Scorpius!" She locked eyes with him, "Promise me."

He saw her tears and shook his head viciously. "No. I won't leave you. Not now, not ever."

"Okay…" She rolled her trembling lips together. "I know you love me and we are together, but you have to think of yourself. There's a million wonderful things you have left to do. Cases to break, people to save-"

"None of that means anything to me without you." He told her hotly. "When I said I couldn't do this without you. I wasn't being romantic or sappy. I was being selfish and honest. I can't do this without you."

Rose bent her head. "You have to. You have to live on."

"I'm sorry. I can't give you that…I don't have a family. I have friends, but you…" Scorpius's grip on her hands became tight, "you are all I've really got."

"Don't say that. You had a life before me. You will have a life after me."

He let out a little cold laugh. "It wasn't much of a life…I was just drifting through, never feeling anything, never doing anything just doing whatever to get by…Getting this assignment, being with you." His eyes watered, "It was the best choice I've ever made."

"I love you _so much."_ She cried, falling forward. "I didn't believe… I could love anybody this much. I'm just sorry you got dragged into this…_I'm so sorry_."

"Don't be." He smiled at her, "as reckless as it is. If I had to live this over again, I would pick you again. _Every single time_…. Do you understand me?"

She nodded. "Yesss."

Sweat laced her face as tears began to stick to her eyelashes. They didn't move away from each other not even for a moment. They both knew this could be their last moments together and neither could bare being apart for a single second of it.

Dirt and blood was smeared across Scorpius's pale face and he looked a bit shaky. They never had a chance to finish making dinner, so it had been hours since he'd had anything to eat. Still he refused to show how weak he felt. He just held onto her and occasionally would whisper reassuring things to her. There was this notion in the back of his head; that maybe if he said it enough times or made her believe it that maybe he could believe it himself.

The door clicked open and they both moved as close to each other as humanly possible, before the guards came in to take one of them. Rose lifted her chin, and became incredibly calm, because she knew which one of them was being taken.

"I love you. Remember that. No matter what." She told him firmly, before two burly men came up behind her and ripped her away from the bars.

"NO! ROSE!" Scorpius screamed fighting off two of his attackers, but not able to take on the other two without a wand. "ROOOOOSE!"

Rose could see him fighting in his cell, and even when they forced her into the hallway she could hear him screaming her name.


	16. After The Storm

_And now I cling to what I knew_  
_I saw exactly what was true_  
_But oh no more._  
_That's why I hold,_  
_That's why I hold with all I have._  
**-Mumford and Sons-**

* * *

"why...are you still torturing me?" Rose panted, her body hung over as she panted unevenly. "I already gave my deposition...just kill me and get it over with."

Strands of her red hair clung to the sweat that was dripping down her boiling face. A rib or two was broken, and she had several deep gashes across her cheeks that stung so bad her eyes were always full of tears. Her bones ached from the bruises that had swelled along her body.

She just wanted it to be over. They were going to kill her. No one was going to find her body and if they did...it would be worse than dying right here and now.

In between attacks, in the ringing silence she heard Scorpius screaming, and nothing; not the punches to the face or the spells that made her feel like her feel like she was on fire, nothing was worse than hearing him in agony, calling out her name and knowing there was nothing she could do.

"...just kill me...just get it over with..."

"Giving up?" One of the men asked, contempt in his voice.

"I have nothing to leverage," She said bluntly after realizing it herself. "...Nothing to bargain with...and he doesn't even have a personal vendetta with me...he just wants me dead."

Her blue eyes lifted and she looked at them. "..._so just kill me._"

They didn't look at her with pity, because she wasn't pathetic or sad, she was just simply right. The sooner they killed her and did away with her the quicker their boss could get out of prison. There were no positives to keeping her around. They'd had their sick twisted fun, they hurt her for the anguish she had caused, but it was time to face facts. Her life was over and everyone in the room knew it. So now they were just wasting time.

"So be it."

Rose lightly shut her eyes and felt a flush of emotion go through her. Every broken bone, every scrapped knee, every laugh, every tear was front and center in her memory. She saw her parents, her brother, James, her cousins, her friends, everyone she had ever known from the lady that took her coffee order to the teacher who told her she showed real promise with writing. Everything was there, and she made peace with it. If she had to die than she wasn't going to cry or make a fuss. She'd lived a thousands lives in her time. She'd traveled, she'd made marks all over her 5-page bucket list, she saw and did things she'd never imagine and would never be able to recreate. The only thing she regretted was the lack of time. She wished she could have seen James settle down and get married, seen her father retire, heard that Albus broke up with his bitch girlfriend. But mostly, she just wished she could have had longer with Scorpius.

Time to get sick of each other, to hate each other and fall apart over and over again, but come back together because they loved each other enough to try.

And now that chance was gone.

Her pulse raced, and her fists clenched together. She didn't want to see it happen she just wanted it to be over. But after two minutes she opened her eyes to see why they were hesitating and saw both of them were pinned to the stone wall, their mouths gagged and their bodies bound.

"What the-?" She said hoarsely, but saw the door was ajar and James was standing in the doorway. "...JAMES!"

He ran to her in a flash, "..._merlin_...Rose...you look like hell."

"...great." she choked out a laugh.

"Al and Damon are here too. They cornered Teddy, but he's alright too."

"How is Scorpius?" Rose demanded, while James put an arm around her back and placed her arm over his shoulder.

James didn't answer, but he grimaced.

"Did they find him?"

"Yes."

Rose shuddered, putting all over her weight on James. "...wait..._he isn't_-?"

"He's alive." James muttered, "Just barely."

"Okay..." Her eyes shuttered close, her energy drained.

James's readjusted his grip to pull her tighter to him. "Just hang in there Rosie."

"...i'm holding."

"My dad, and your dad are securing the perimeter…Are you sure you're okay?"

Rose tried to nod, but she didn't have the energy. "They didn't really hurt as much as they could have. They just kept trying to make me think they were going to hurt me and not feeding me…How long have I been here?"

"Two days."

"_God_," Rose breathed shakily, "I never saw the sun so I thought it had been longer than that."

"It's the exhaustion. Will get you checked up. You'll probably stay for a day or two at the hospital for observation…"

"I don't care… I just want him to be okay."

James silence didn't reassure her in the slightest. The longer they walked the more worried she became. Her cousin wasn't the quiet type, he always had something to say, but right then he was having a hard time talking. The reason why could be only one thing; Scorpius wasn't okay and he wasn't going to make it and James didn't have the heart to tell her.

"Where is he James?"

"Rose-"

"No." She snapped as firmly as possible. "I want to see him."

James groaned, "Rose, be reasonable. You could have internal injuries-"

"I will be fine! I won't be fine if I don't see him. I won't be fine if he's dead and you aren't telling me."

"He's not dead."

"Then bring me to him…_Now James_."

He stopped walking for a minute, swore under his breath and said, "They left him in the dungeon, and they don't want to move him until they can get a healer to him."

"Take me there."

James guided her, but he moved slower than she would have liked. She needed to see him; she needed to see for herself how he was. There was no one she trusted more than James, but she knew that he would lie to protect her. He would lie to keep her together and she loved him for it, but she didn't need that now. Now she needed to see his face and see what was true and what was false.

"What is she doing here?" Her father asked, rushing forward.

"Get out of my way dad."

James said, "Rose maybe-"

"_No!_" Rose spat, "I'm tired, I'm beaten up and I feel like crap. I want to see my boyfriend, and I don't care if I have to blast all of you out of my way to do it. I want to see him. And I want to see him now."

Ron opened his mouth, his blue eyes centering her identical one's. "Rose, you're hurt."

"Dad, I'm an adult and I know that has no merit to you…ever." She cried, "But just for once. This one time, please respect me enough to do what I say…_Please_."

"Hell no," He shot at her, "James get her to a healer, even if you have to sedate her-"

"Ron, let her go. She won't rest until she see's him." Her uncle intervened, giving his best friend and brother in law a look.

Ron threw up his hands in frustration. "Fine, since clearly my authority is invalid. I guess it doesn't matter what I say…"

"It really doesn't." Rose announced, stumbling through to the door her father had been blocking.

* * *

Albus and Damon were sitting on either side of him, their heads bent, both of them had tears in their eyes but they weren't saying anything. Rose didn't let that get to her. He was alive. He had to be alive. She would feel it if he wasn't. It was ridiculous, no one would understand it if she tried to explain it, but she would know if he was dead.

That thought faded away, when she saw his body. He was pale, too pale and his body was limp.

_"no._" She said in the smallest voice, gripping the wall behind her for support.

"He still has a heartbeat." Damon told her quietly. "He's still alive."

Rose nodded.

Albus looked up, he looked wrecked. "How are you?"

"…I'm stable."

"Well I'll be the judge of that," Caroline Wood muttered strolling inside boldly, her arms reaching out to support Rose. "Come on, the healers are here. I have to get a look of you."

Rose crumbled when she saw Caroline. "But…_you_…"

"_I know." _Caroline said sympathetically, "they told me about my brother." She said clearly, gripping her. _"I know what happened Rose_."

"…I'm…I'm so sorry…I…" Rose sobbed falling forward. "I should have saved him…I…"

"Calm down," Caroline told Rose, taking a vial out of her pocket and slipping it to Rose. "Just sleep Rose."

Rose tried to fight it, but she lost consciousness and fell forward onto her blond friend.

* * *

"I've been stuck bed for two days Car-o-line." Rose groaned, her teeth gritted in

"Oh don't you give me that." Caroline pointed at her, before pulling her curly blond hair up. "I haven't spoken to you in months and now I find you a bloody mess. You are going to do what I say."

Her lips pressed together, and she glowered at the ceiling.

"He is stable, but he is unconscious Rose-"

"_No_," Rose scoffed, "He is in a co-ma. _He's not fine_. I want to see him-"

Caroline's face softened, her blue eyes peering down at Rose concernedly. "Not until you're cleared. There was something off about your tests. I don't know what though..."

"Great." Rose muttered bitterly, "Just fantastic."

"Ms. Weasley," Healer McHenry, began strolling into the room with a clipboard, his white hair resting against his thick glasses, "we have checked you out, and you have no internal bleeding or any permenant damage-"

Rose rounded on Caroline, "_See!_"

"But," He continued, "We just want to run one more test. So we would like to keep you-"

"_No._" She said immediately. "I have been away from my boyfriend too long as it is. If you want me on bed rest fine, whatever. I will stay put in the hospital…Just please let me go sit next to him. It might not make the slightest difference…but I need it."

Caroline rested her hand on her shoulder and the Healer sighed. "Fine, but I will give you your last test results later. So make sure you don't leave."

"I won't," Rose promised resolutely, kicking off her blankets, "Care help me up."

"Okay, but I'm helping you walk to his room." Caroline compromised nervously.

Rose sighed, "Fine, whatever. I don't care."

She knew she should be nicer to Caroline. The woman had single handedly taken care of her for the past two days, but she was restless. Caroline had been her friend for years she would forgive her, but Rose would never forgive herself if she weren't there when Scorpius woke up.

"So are you going to ever explain all of this to me?" Caroline asked balancing Rose's weight.

"Which part?"

"You and Scorpius. You told me about…well, what happened to Connor…" A look of sadness crossed Caroline's wide eyes, but she continued as if it hadn't. "I mean with Malfoy."

Rose shrugged, "He was assigned to look after me, and being my boyfriend was his cover…and after a while we played the part so well that we sort of …just fell into actually having feelings…I don't know how to explain it really."

Caroline watched her face. "_Huh._"

"What?"

"I've seen you go through several boyfriends…and I don't know. You just sound different."

Rose flushed, and looked away. "I don't know how it happened. It's natural to fall into something in that kind of situation, but …we kind of crashed into it…"

"Well, if it helps any, I actually like this." She smiled at her. "I always thought you two would date."

Rose gaffed at that, nudging Caroline teasingly. "Oh yeah! Of course you did! You're so daft"

"No I'm serious! When you were HeadBoy and HeadGirl I always thought you worked well together…" Caroline hugged Rose into her side lightly. "I'm glad to have you back. I missed you…"

"I missed you too." Rose admitted, a smile crossing her lips for the first time since she'd been rescued.

* * *

Rose adjusted in her seat, her feet were on the edge of his bed, her elbows rested on her knees and her eyes were set downward, but they weren't focused. One of the Healers assistances had forced her to eat a few times and she complied willingly. It was just the fact that she couldn't seem to think of anything else when he was like this. In a few days she'd have to testify, and the whole thing would be over, for good.

Now she could talk freely to her only real female friend, go back to work and go looking for a new flat. Her entire life could go back to normal. She could go back to visiting her grandparents to do yoga, make it up to Hugo for missing his birthday and having lunch with James. There was an entire functioning life just sitting outside the door waiting for her to pick it back up, but she wasn't ready to do it just yet.

Her family had all barged into St. Mungo's yesterday to visit her, much to her Healer's disgruntlement. She appreciated it and played along to all of their horrible jokes and light questions. There was nothing wrong with her family; it was just the fact that she now considered Scorpius as family now too. Even if he woke up and they realized they wouldn't work, she still would be best friends with him. There was no way she could just not have him in her life. It just wasn't possible at this point. They were too connected now to be separated in any permanent way.

That was the bitch of it. He was only supposed to be around for her protection and now that the job was over and she was fine, the only thing she was worrying about was him.

Rose stretched and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. She kept slipping in and out of sleep. Someone had given her a blanket and pillow at some point and every once and a while she would nod off. The stress must have been getting to her, because she had never been so exhausted in her entire life. She kept trying to stay awake, but she failed miserably. Every time she woke up, she glanced over hoping this would be the one time he'd be awake, looking at her with that grin of his. It didn't happen. He always just looked like he did when he was deep in sleep, except there was no soft snoring or the knowledge that if she just kissed him he'd wake up.

Leaning forward, she intertwined her fingers with his as they always had and looked at his face. "_I know you're in there_. Just healing up and trying to get better. I get it. You need a minute and I'm willing to wait for you. Take as much time as you need, but just make sure you come back…_please_."

"Rose?" Healer McHenry questioned knocking loudly on the door.

Rose let go of Scorpius's hand, let her blanket fall to the floor and shifted to the doorway. Her arms crossed and she prepared herself for whatever had caused her Healer's face to look so somber. "What do you have?"

"Scorpius is stable, he is perfectly healthy as far as we can tell there is nothing medical keeping him in the coma."

She let out a breath, and ran a hand through her frizzy hair. "Okay…uh is that good or bad?"

"Neither. He seems fine, but we won't know if there are any side affects until he wakes up."

"Okay…Is that it?"

"I also figured out what the problem with your test results were. You HCG levels were off."

Rose pressed her fist to her mouth. "Okay, what does that mean? Do I need to take medication? Is it serious?"

"We ran all the tests we could, just to make sure." He surveyed her carefully. "Ms. Weasley, you're pregnant."

Rose tensed up. "...I don't understand."

"You are three weeks pregnant. You have a history of miscarriage's in your file and you sustained a lot of trauma, but somehow it didn't affect your pregnancy."

"I…" She gulped in bewilderment. "I…but..._what?_"

"I double checked. It's true. If you keep on the track you are on your due date should be sometime early April."

Rose was having a hard time catching her breath. "Okay…_okay."_

"I know this must be a bit of a shock, but these things do happen when we are least expecting it."

"Yeah..." She breathed heavily biting her bottom lip.

"Anyway, my shift is ending I just want to let you know before I left…congratulations. I'm sure you will make a remarkable mother."

"Th..Thank you." Rose muttered clumsily.

Once he left, she stumbled back to the chair beside Scorpius's bed, her entire body numb in disbelief.


	17. All This Time

_Take all the time lost  
All the days that I cost  
Take what I took and give it back to you_  
_All this time  
We were waiting for each other  
All this time  
I was waiting for you_  
**-OneRepublic-**

* * *

There were a lot of things Rose didn't know how to handle. There are some things we can't prepare for, some thing just come out of nowhere and cut you at the knees. It knocks the wind out of you, and sometimes you just freeze because you don't know what else to do.

Rose wished she could talk to somebody. There were a million people she could talk to, but the one person she wanted to talk to…the one person she needed to talk to wasn't available. She pressed her fists to her jaw and breathed slowly and carefully. Now she had to be careful, she wasn't just in charge of her, she was in charge of something, someone now.

"…I'm probably mad," She muttered, leaning forward, "You probably can't hear me…I don't know why you won't wake up. They said they don't know when you will… I don't know what to do," She whispered to him, watching his chest rise and fall. "I…I don't understand how this could have happened…I mean I know but…"

Rose's lips trembled, and she pushed herself up.

If Scorpius woke up she would feel horrible for not being there, but she needed to take a walk. She needed a minute to clear her mind. So she just paced outside his door, occasionally she would look at his bed, but mostly she would just walk back and forth trying to figure out what she was going to do. The walking helped, she felt her pulse weaken and her breathing was less difficult. If Scorpius didn't wake up by the end of the day she was going to tell someone. This wasn't something she could keep to herself for much longer. Honestly she had assumed that she would have trouble getting pregnant and to find out after everything that she was…it made it a little hard to deal with.

Rose twisted on her feet, her hands resting on her stomach as she turned. She didn't have a home anymore and until Scorpius woke up…Rose didn't have it in her to look for one. So temporarily, this hospital, this room, this was her home.

And if he wasn't going to wake up, if he wasn't really alive anymore she wished his test results would say it. So she could just accept things for what they were and figure out a way to get through it. But this, how was she supposed to deal with this? This wasn't something she could just learn to adapt to. This was a baby and in 8 months she would be expected to pop it out and take care of it for the rest of her life…And if Scorpius didn't wake up she would have to do it alone. She'd have her family, her friends, but not the father. Not the person she needed.

"Rose Weasley."

Rose halted mid-step, looked up and saw Scorpius's father strutting down the hall. "_…Mr. Malfoy?_"

His suit was perfectly put together, but there was a deep cut in his sleeve. "_Where_ is he?!"

Rose crossed her arms and pointed at the room directly behind her. "All of his tests cleared. He…um…He is in a coma."

He gulped; he was so pale she worried he might faint. "…What?"

"I had James owl you as soon as we arrived here."

"…I was away on business." He muttered fixing the bottom of his suit coat, his lips curled. His grey eyes drifted to look at his son, and his light eyebrows furrowed together. "He was on a mission?"

A tight ball of guilt consumed her stomach, and she nodded.

"…how were you involved?"

"He…" Rose's voice grew raspy. "_Um._ I was in protection detail, and he was assigned to protect me."

"So you are just visiting then?"

Rose opened her mouth and struggled for an explanation. There wasn't one that would work. "No."

His face stiffened and he looked her over coldly. "Oh. I see."

"Um I'll stay out here if you want a minute with him..." Rose offered lamely.

"Why would you stay out here?" He wanted to know, looking at her warily.

Rose gaped, completely unsure of what to do. Her hands clenched together and she blurted out. "I'm-pregnant."

He tilted his head and gave her a bewildered look.

"I…_fuck…_" Rose muttered, gripping her hair helplessly. "I didn't mean…please forget that. Um…go in and see him, and ignore me. Just…_yeah."_

A thought occurred to Draco and it showed on his face. "Wait…_it isn't-?"_

"_It is._" Rose laughed humorlessly, rubbing her face with her hands. "It is his, because we are together and we have been for three weeks…And I don't know why I'm telling you this because-we-have-never-spoken-and-you-probably-don' t-like-me-but-I-haven't-told-anyone-else-and-I'm-f reaking-out-and-I'm-so-sorry-"

Draco backed up a step, his eyes wide in fear as Rose started to cry, hard. Lucky for him Damon happened to be walking by.

"Hi Mr. Malfoy!" He greeted him with a fake cheerfulness, but that illusion dropped the minute he saw Rose's distress. "Rose? Rosie what's wrong?"

She shook her head, but allowed him to pull her into his arms. "I'm…I'm…"

"Shhhh…" He soothed her giving Mr. Malfoy a particularly nasty look. "It's okay…Why don't we go get some food? Then we'll come back after Mr. Malfoy speaks to Scorpius. Okay?...Why don't you go get your purse? And then we can go."

Rose took a deep breath; her body was still spasming while she cried. "yyeah."

"It's okay. We'll get you some tea…and you'll be right as rain." Damon said using the same voice he used with his daughter.

"Thanks Damon." She bit her lip going into the room, wiping the tears off her face.

Damon rounded on Draco, "What did you say to her?"

"I didn't say anything to her." He said sharply. "She just broke down. It's not my fault, she's unstable-"

"She's not unstable." Damon shot back defensively. "Her boyfriend is in a coma, she is a little traumatized."

Mr. Malfoy frowned. "So they are really-?"

"Together? Yeah." Damon said simply. "He is pretty serious about her."

"Then she really is…" Draco's face fell and darkened.

Damon scowled, "She is a perfectly healthy and a wonderful person."

He put his arm around her when she came back out, this time she was steadier on her feet. "Come on Rose."

She went with him and managed to pull herself together and even laugh at something Damon said before they reached the lift.

* * *

Stuck, if there was one way to describe his situation that would be the word.

He wanted to wake up and he tried to. With every molecule of his willpower he tried to force his own eyes to open, but he couldn't. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he fought he couldn't make himself wake up. Still he heard everything. Scorpius could hear Rose pacing in his room, occasionally she would talk to him, or hold his hand. He could feel the heat of her breath near his face and the pressure of her fingers with his.

It was constant. She never left him, even when she wasn't right next to him, he could hear her in the hallway. Rose never went far. Then again he doubted she would leave. If he'd been like this for month's maybe she'd move on, but now…now that she was pregnant, he knew it would take her a lot longer to let herself leave.

When he heard the doctor say she was pregnant, his heart monitor dropped. It wasn't for long otherwise the healer would have noticed and an alarm would have gone of. It was just for a split second, just long enough for him to completely panic. Growing inside of her was his child, _his child_. Scorpius had to wake up. He had to be there for her. She couldn't raise his child alone. He couldn't miss everything.

His entire body was heavy and locked down to the bed. Every time he tried to even open an eyelid he met resistance and if he tried too hard he would fall unconscious. Of course he was pushing himself too hard, but he couldn't just accept what was happening. He should rest and let his body wake up when he was ready, but he couldn't. Even though his body was perfectly still his mind was not. The idea that his friends would get married, have children and move on with their lives, that they'd forget about him, cut so deeply. Damon and Albus came by every day, they never said anything. They just sat there and looked after him, like they had since they were little. But eventually they would stop coming.

And Rose…the idea of her moving on, killed him. _He was right there_. Yes he didn't make any promises or say anything binding to her, but that made no difference. He didn't need a ring or a certificate to tell him anything. He had always had feelings for her; he fell in love with her swiftly and thoroughly. There were a lot of things they never discussed and so much they didn't know about each other, but they were supposed to have time to figure it out. If that time was stolen, if he never could make himself wake up…that would be worse than dying right away.

In the distance he could hear someone new waltz in. He would have welcomed pain at this point. They'd rearranged all of his bones together, medicated any agony he had been feeling and made him brand new, but he couldn't move or anything, but slip in and out of awareness. He'd once read about anesthesia awareness; it occurs during general anesthesia, on the operating table, when the patient has not been given enough of the general anesthetic or analgesic to render the patient unconscious during general anesthesia. The patients have a post-operative recall of intra-operative events. They would be fully aware of everything but unable to move or do anything about it. So if this mysterious person were here to kill him, he would literally not be able to do anything but listen and wait for it.

A wave of cologne hit him, and he calmed down slightly when he realized the stranger was his father.

That should have comforted him. It really should have, but it didn't, because if he was here that meant he spoke to Rose and that thought made him nervous. His father wasn't sensitive or well versed at knowing how to handle other people's emotions. Half the time he was shocked his mother fell in love with Draco, he was so cold and not empathic at all. Scorpius was a little surprised he came at all. Scorpius was his only child and only respectable relative, but still Scorpius didn't quite understand it.

For a while he sat beside him and said nothing. There weren't any claims of regret or promises to do better if he woke up. Draco just remained rigid in his chair, staring at his son intently. Scorpius kept waiting for him to leave, but for the rest of the week he came back every day, at the exact time. At the end of the week, Scorpius was about to slip into complete unconsciousness when he heard Rose's voice.

"How did your check up go?" His father asked, a tone of forced politeness.

"Fine, thank you." Rose replied, sitting on the other side of Scorpius.

"…I bet your also wondering why I come everyday." He stated in a monotone. "The Healer would owl me if there was a change…and by now I assume you would do so as well if there was a need to."

Rose cleared her throat. "Then why do you come?"

Draco's face bent, "When he was young, his mother passed. Did you know that?"

"Yes, he speaks of her fondly."

"She…she took two months to die once she was diagnosed and he never left her side. Not even for a minute …and I understood why, but he couldn't do anything to help her and after awhile it just made her sad to see him suffering…He said to her, "Mum I love you and that means being here.'"

"He didn't want her to die alone." Rose thought aloud. "He wasn't thinking about what it was doing to him. He just wanted to make sure he was there for her."

"You two haven't been dating long."

"No we haven't." Rose said unashamedly.

Draco eyed her. "What are you going to do about the baby?"

"Raise him or her." Rose shrugged, "There's nothing else I can really do. He won't wake up until he's ready to."

"What textbook did you read_ that_ in?"

"I happen to be very intelligent. I'm well read, but I don't need a book to explain me common sense." Rose shot back icily.

Draco snorted, giving her a nod. He leaned forward; pressing his hands together in a gesture she'd seen Scorpius do a million times. "You are your parents child."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Rose said condescendingly, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Take it however you'd like."

"Why are you here _now_?" She asked, "I know he's your son, and he is all you've got but why weren't you there for him all those years?" Rose's eyes hardened on his. "_He was alone_. You were all he had left, and you said nothing to him. Even know, I watch you with him and you say nothing to him. Not a word of encouragement. Nothing."

"That rubbish doesn't work." Draco proclaimed, "And you don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?"

He curled his lips over his teeth and stood up. "I'm not_ that_ guy."

"What? _What guy?_ The guy that acts like a father to his son or the man that walks away like a coward?" Rose shook her head, "See I understand that we all make mistakes and I don't blame you for what you did when you were younger, but I do blame you for what you are doing now. You are all he's got and you only come when you are called or when you are feeling bitter about the state of your life…._Wake. Up._ He's lying in there and he won't wake up. Nothing I've said or done has done anything. So maybe for once you could do something."

Mr. Malfoy's eyes unfocused for a moment.

"You are his father. Be there for him. Give him a reason to wake up." Rose told him roughly before leaving the room.

If Scorpius could have spoken he would have told her to not waste her breath, and he would kissed her soundly for defending him so instinctively. Regardless Draco sat down and sighed.

"She wants me to talk to you, and I don't understand why. There has never been any proof that it helps or makes any sort of a difference…" He fiddled with the sleeve of his jacket. "If I thought telling you…or saying how I feel would make you wake up would force you awake I would…but right now, this is ludicrous."

If he could laugh he would. His father sounded so incredibly uncomfortable and Scorpius expected him to just walk out. To give up and pretend he did something he didn't.

"I am proud of you." Draco disclosed barely above a whisper. "I never said it, but I thought you knew that. My father always said the opposite so I assumed if I didn't say anything at all it would be better. Then you wouldn't be constantly striving for my approval like I always did with my father."

"If you are in there that is. I just wanted to …mention that…this is ridiculous." Draco rose from his seat and clamped a supportive hand on Scorpius's frozen shoulder. "I'll be back, and next time …I'll just be quiet."

* * *

Time passed oddly for Scorpius. Sometimes he would catch entire days and sometimes he would only be mentally there for a few minutes. After a while he was sure he'd never wake up, but one day, he did.

The Healer in charge of all long-term care in Scorpius's decided to start him a new treatment. It was based on a new herb mixture he'd been developing and was convinced that it would at least wake Scorpius long enough to give him some closure with his family if not more time.

He squinted uncomfortably; the room was bright, too bright. It took him a few minutes to adjust to it, before he could see the other person in the room. Everything hurt, like a hollow ache from the limited movement the healers had done for him while he was asleep. But he was alive, he could see and most of all he could move so he didn't care. He didn't care at all.

All he cared about was the person he was looking at. Her red hair was pushed back off of her face, her pale face was worn with exhaustion and she had a book on her hand. Her other hand was clasped on his, little wisps of her hair falling into her face. She had aged, but it wasn't a large difference, just a wrinkle or two more and some other things he couldn't quite pin down. But she was still Rose and that's was what mattered.

Scorpius tried to speak several times, but his throat was too dry. So he focused on moving just his hand. His muscles seemed to strain under the pressure, but after a few minutes he managed to tighten his grip on her hand. Rose jumped in surprise, her eyes snapping up to his face.

For a few seconds, she just stared at him, her heart hammering in her chest and her jaw dropped. Rose couldn't speak; she thought she was imagining it until she felt the pressure of his hand on hers again.

"_Oh…merlin…_Uh..._fuck"_ She gasped; a mixture of emotions etched across her face. "Do…er you want some water?!"

He nodded, and leaned up a half a centimeter to drink. The cold water stung his throat, but it helped.

With a gravely voice, he muttered, "…You. Stayed."

She looked completely flabbergasted; her hand cupped his cheek tenderly. "…_of course I did. _Where else would I have gone?"

"But…" His throat was dry, it was so dry it was raw, but he ignored the pain, "how long have I-?"

"Three years," She mumbled, her eyes swollen with relieved tears.

His eyes drifted to her stomach, he saw it was flat and babyless. He'd heard a lot during that time, but now that he was awake he was still having a hard time believing the whole thing happened. "Where…where's-?"

"Wait…_You know?_ How could you know? I found out after…" Rose muttered in astonishment at his gestures.

"I heard most of it. I just couldn't tell how much time was going by…" He groaned, a headache growing in the back of his neck. "where is he?"

"He's with your father." Rose muttered, her fingertips grazing his cheekbones. "They'll be back soon."

Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he started to shake a bit. "I tried…I tried to wake up…I really did."

"I know. Shhh. I know." She told him softly. "I'm not mad at you. I never have been."

"I've missed so much…" He breathed in agony. "How will I ever make up for the time...?"

"Here," She helped him up, her hands slipping behind his back as she forced him to drink more water. "We'll figure it out. Okay? We'll figure it all out." Her face was red from the steady flow of fat tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm just so happy…I knew you would wake up. _I knew you would_."

Scorpius's eyes closed and he rested his forehead against hers. "I can't tell you how much it means…_you…you're still here_…"

"Remember when you said I'd get over it if something happened to you?" Rose asked him, "I told you then and I meant it. I'd never give up on you."

* * *

Scorpius could barely move, but he pushed past any ware and tightness in his muscles and kissed her. Inhaling harshly, she broke apart at his touch. Rose shuddered and melted into him, her lips careful, but soft against his. He kissed her again and again and after a lot of effort he managed to wrap his arms around her. He couldn't hold her like how he wanted to, but just to hold her was enough. He'd wanted to so long to touch her, to feel her skin and the warmth beneath it and now it he could. He was so happy, it ruined him.

"What have I missed? Tell me everything, good bad…everything." He demanded, his eyes searching her face hungrily.

"Um…well Albus and James got married."

Scorpius blinked. "Both of them?"

"Albus married that…_ugh_ girlfriend of his." Rose made a disgusted face. "And James married Caroline."

"Your blond friend? Caroline Wood?"

"Yeah. I didn't see it coming either." Rose scoffed. "I just told him to comfort her at my hearing…I didn't mean for them to hit it off."

Scorpius said, "Huh…weird."

"Your father has been great." Rose told him sincerely, "He has helped and Leo is practically over his house as much as he is over my mum's."

"Leo?" Scorpius said, "Where is he?!"

Rose smiled. "He is just getting dinner in the cafeteria with your dad. They should be back any second."

"Good. I need to see him." Scorpius's face-hardened through his tears. "I'll never leave him again…either of you."

"You didn't leave. You just took a very long nap." She reasoned determinedly, her hands intertwined with his. "It wasn't like you had a choice."

Scorpius buried his face into her neck. "I love you so much."

Rose's face split into the biggest smile she could muster.

"What?" He asked moving and seeing the look on her face.

"I never thought …I knew you'd come back. But…I thought you wouldn't be able to speak or walk or something. And you still could have something wrong." Rose bit her lip, "But I never in a million years thought of how good it would feel to hear you say that to me again."

"Mum!"

Rose turned and saw Draco holding Leo in his arms. Leo was pouting; his strawberry blond hair fell into his face. Scorpius still had his arms around Rose, but his eyes were focused on the son he had never been able to see. He'd gotten his mother's dark blue eyes, her complexion and had a mixture of both of their hair colors. Little Leo had his father's face shape down right down to the pointed chin. He didn't notice Scorpius, he only had eyes for his mother.

"Mum, ice cream." He sobbed, his face turning bright red, his fists swiping angrily at his eyes.

"Come here honey. Look, daddy woke up."

Leo furrowed his eyebrows against each other. "What?"

"Leo?" Scorpius questioned, his entire face lit up in excitement.

"Leo, come here. Come meet daddy."

Leo didn't need to be asked twice. He ran over and struggled to himself onto his mother's lap before she just grabbed him by his armpits and put him on her lap. "Leo... say hi."

"…Daddy?" Leo wanted to know, his big eyes on Scorpius.

"Yes," Scorpius stammered, his lips quivering, "I'm your daddy."

Draco walked forward, his eyes wide, "When…when did..?"

"Just a few minutes ago." Rose beamed at Scorpius as Leo put his beefy hands all over his father's face.

"I'm glad you're awake son." Draco commented.

Scorpius glanced at his father. "I heard what you said… All of it."

"Well, I'll give you two time and-"

"You're not going anywhere." Rose informed him immediately. "Sit down, Draco."

Scorpius's eyebrows lifted in surprise. His father didn't sit down, but he moved to stand by the bed. "Someone should get the Healer."

"I will," Rose offered.

"No," Scorpius replied quickly, his expression fierce on her.

"I'll be right back. You spend some time with your father and son." Rose said shifting Leo over to Draco's side of the bed, kissing him and bolting out of the room.

* * *

Scorpius watched Leo tug on his shirt with a tender expression. He couldn't stop smiling as he watched the little boy that shared his DNA, living and breathing right in front of him. He could actually ruffle his hair and talk to him. The pain of being gone was suffocating, it broke every bone in his body to think of what he would never get to experience. He'd missed Leo's first steps and probably a million other tiny firsts that only a parent would appreciate, but every time he'd look at his son, those feelings would fade away.

"How are you feeling?" His father asked briskly, his hands resting on Leo's hips to keep him from sliding of the bed.

Scorpius shrugged unconcernedly. "A bit of a headache, and I'm sore…but other than that. I'm fine."

"She was here you know." Draco said after a few minutes of silence. "I don't know if you could tell that."

"I could."

"You should probably marry her." Draco suggested loosely.

Scorpius laughed, the feeling made his chest ache. "Father, I woke up fifteen minutes ago. I'm not exactly in the position to go ring shopping."

Draco looked over his shoulder to see if Rose was coming. When he turned back he sneered. "I'm Leo's favorite."

"What do you mean?"

"I beat Granger and Weasley." He declared with a pitiful amount of pride.

Scorpius snorted, "And I'm assuming you did so using bribery."

"I didn't say that."

"Ah huh…" Scorpius looked at his father knowingly. "Either way…Thank you. You didn't have to stick around."

Draco nodded, his lips curled and he stared down at Leo. "It's what I'm supposed to do."

"Yes, well you haven't always done what you're supposed to do." Scorpius said simply.

"I know... Your girlfriend has drilled that point home in your absence." Draco scowled.

It was Scorpius's turn to smirk, "Good."

"Don't tell her I said this, but she did a decent job…_considering._"

"_Oh I did, did I_?" Rose questioned with the biggest smile on her face. "Oh I'm going to have to write that one down…'June 31 2034…Draco Malfoy gave me a compliment today…I may have fainted of shock."

A young Healer walked in and began performing tests on Scorpius while Draco and Rose bantered back and forth.

"I wasn't talking to you in the first place," Draco retorted, his nose high in the air.

"Which makes it that much more sincere," Rose smiled sweetly, placing a hand over her heart.

Scorpius laughed at the pair of them while the Healer tested his reflexes and response times. After a few minutes of prodding and moving, the Healer shrugged. "Well, he will probably have to stay two more days for tests and observation and have to go to rehabilitation to regain the bulk of the strength he lost."

"But I'm fine as far as you can see?" Scorpius asked, Rose sitting down beside him and taking his hand in hers.

"Yep. I'll be checking on you throughout the night, but you're awful lucky Mr. Malfoy."

Scorpius nodded. "Thank you."

* * *

The Healer walked into the hallway and Draco trailed after him to ask a few follow up questions, taking Leo with him.

"Blimey, I'm scrawny now." Scorpius muttered with a scowl as he looked at his skinny arms.

"You'll get it back." Rose told him, "I'm sure Damon would love to kick your ass back into shape."

"Anything new with him?"

"He has full custody of his daughter…her grandparents passed on. So she's over when he has to work. I think she likes bossing Leo around."

Scorpius said, "I can picture that."

"I switched to Homicide," Rose mentioned, "And the grandparents all switch of watching him when I'm on assignment."

"Really?" He looked at her with interest.

"Yeah," She blushed, "I don't know why I thought that would be important to share…"

Scorpius snickered, "It's nice to see you still blush."

"Why? …It's awful!"

"No, it's adorable." He reassured her, his eyes getting heavy.

Rose looked at him with concern. "You alright?"

"I'm tired."

"Well…go to sleep." She told him nervously.

Scorpius gulped, his eyes filled with terror. "What…what if I don't wake up again? What then Rose?"

Rose took a beat, moved forward and kissed him. Her lips weren't as hard on his as they used to be, she was being gentle with him.

"Then I will keep coming back until you do."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Scorpius's hand tightened on hers. "I'll hold you to that."

Rose ran her hands through his hair and he lay back against his pillows. Sleep came for him and took him swiftly. He wanted to stay awake, but his head was pounding and he knew he needed to rest. Still the only thing that reassured him it would be okay was the woman who was stroking his hand with her own; the woman who had never left him, when no one would have blamed her for doing just that.

_His Rose._


	18. We Both Know

_From this moment_  
_Forget what we were scared of_  
_Say we're never giving up_  
_You say you'll always  
__**-Gavin DeGraw feat Colbie Caillat-**_

* * *

_**Epilogue: **_**1 Year Later**

Rose yawned, falling backward in the grass and lying there for longer than it was necessary. In the back of her mind she wondered when Scorpius would come home. He mostly worked cold cases, but for the past two weeks he'd been doing an undercover assignment with Albus and she hadn't the slightest clue when he would come back. A few times she stared at her plain hand and sighed.

She had insisted he get his own place and get his life back before jumping into a serious commitment with her. He told her she was being ridiculous, but it took her about three months to realize that he was usually over her house anyway. Her pledge to never live with someone without marriage attached stuck in her mind. She had been living with him for nine months, but she had decided to suck it up and let it go. The statistics were there and she knew the reasons why they were correct, but she simply didn't care. They were happy and she wasn't going to force him to propose to make it perfect on paper.

"What are you doing?" James questioned before dropping down and laying down on the grass beside her.

"Thinking, what are you doing?"

He shrugged, "Caroline is on the warpath-"

"You should have told her your parents were coming over. She looked like hell and you know your mother still hasn't quite warmed to her yet."

James shot her a look. "It's because she wants grandkids immediately and how the hell did you-?"

"She tells me everything." Rose snorted, "You shouldn't have married my best friend."

"Best _female_ friend." James corrected her.

"Be thankful you are Leo's godfather and not godmother."

"I am," James snickered, "The look on Al's face when you asked if he'd do it…priceless."

"Well it seems like a bit of over kill for him to have three godfathers. I thought I should even it out a bit." Rose reasoned.

"Ah huh, and it's not at all because Leo took away your eyebrows and Al didn't tell you?"

"Not. At. All."

James turned over, "So I think she's pregnant."

"Caroline?" Rose questioned.

"No, Victoire… Yes my wife!"

"Okay, but that wasn't even a good joke. Victoire is on baby number five."

James rolled his eyes. "Are you going to take me seriously?"

"Yes, you think your wife is pregnant. And why do you think that?"

"Because I found the stick in the trash and it was positive."

Rose sighed, "I told her to just make a potion. Once a muggleborn, always a muggleborn."

"_You knew?!"_

"I knew she thought she might be. Not that she actually was."

"You know I've noticed a little slant in your sharing skills in the past few years Ro."

Rose pointed at him scoldingly, "First of all you never ask me if I know anything. Second of all you are ridiculous and sometimes her side is much more sympathetic than yours."

"Whatever I always take your side over Scorp's."

"Yeah, but you two aren't friends and I'm usually right anyway."

James shook his head. "Whatever."

"You're still my favorite." She said mockingly, tickling his side.

"HEY! STOP THAT!" He giggled angrily, "I'M 30 YEARS OLD! YOU DON'T TICKLE ME!"

Rose laughed evilly, "You may be 30, but you are barely an adult."

"Yeah? Well you have twigs in your hair."

"But see I can take the twigs out of my hair, you can't magically become an adult."

James moved on. "Where's the little man?"

"Damon's watching him today. He's taking him and Isabel to the zoo. Leo's really excited."

"I'm sure he is. I bet he'll want to go the reptile house like his father."

Rose smacked his arm hard. "_Oy_!"

"Fine…his grandfather."

"That's not very nice."

"Oh but I don't get a slap for that one?" James nodded approvingly. "I'm glad to see you have no illusions when it comes to Draco Malfoy."

Rose made a face. "It's more…I understand he is a reformed Death Eater, but he's not a reformed ass."

"That's lovely. Have you shared this thought with his son?"

"Nah, they barely get along. They go to a Quidditch match once a month and that's about it, but hey at least it's better than it was."

James said, "What about you?"

"What about me? I hung out with my dad yesterday, after covering a corpse up by Cardiff."

"How is he getting on with your guy? Warming any?"

"Nope." Rose chuckled, shaking her head. "He's a stubborn man my father, but I'm not concerned. As long as he keeps his opinions to himself in front of me I don't care about the rest."

"He just thinks you two should be married by now. Living in sin and all that."

"I know, but I think he could be a little more understanding. We didn't date long when I became pregnant and it's only been a year since he woke up. I don't want to just get married because we should. I want to get married because he wants to. Not because he feels pressured to do so."

"You two are basically married anyway…" James glanced at her. "You'd still like the title and the ring though wouldn't you...?"

Rose was about to shrug, but she couldn't lie to James. "I would, but it's his choice and until he's ready to make it i'm not going to pressure him. He lost three years of his life. If he wants to take it slow, then I'm not going to fight that."

"It's killing you to wait, isn't it?" James smirked knowingly.

"Yesss…but I waited three years for him to wake up and 24 years to fall in love with him." Rose sat up with a frown. "I think I can wait longer to marry him."

"That's beautiful." James mocked clutching his chest. "My heart swelled right up."

"Ohh get out of here!" Rose yelled, with a smile. "Go get back to your wife and atone for _your sins_."

James's face scrunched up, he stood up and looked at her. "That's a new way to congratulation someone on expecting a baby…"

"Really?..._Really_?"

He shrugged his hand in his pocket and his body tilted forward arrogantly. "You have to admit, that was a good one."

"Go home and owl me later. We still could be wrong you know."

"I don't know. It would be kind of nice to have a spawn. Someone to carry on the good looks, you know?"

"Marriage has given you QUITE an ego James Potter."

"Well from what I've heard about my namesakes I think I've earned it." He winked, "I'll see you later…you should probably go inside and shower."

Rose grimaced. "Do I have _that_ many twigs in my hair?"

"Yes," He replied flippantly before apparating away.

* * *

Rose shook her head, but followed his advice regardless. She had worked the whole day before and turned in her last article for the evening so unless there was another murder somewhere she had the rest of the evening for herself. So she showered, put on a dress and danced around the house. She wasn't much for cleaning, the house wasn't dirty, but it wasn't nearly as clean as it was when Scorpius was home. It would have made her laugh if she did actually start doing some housework. Often she did work around the yard like she had growing up, but Scorpius was the one who kept up on things around the house. So eventually she grew tired and just sat back in the living room, with a good book.

She was half way through the third chapter when she heard a knock on the front door. Scorpius wouldn't knock to get into his own house, so it must have either been Damon dropping off Leo or one of her various relatives. Anyone else would have owled first before just dropping by. Yawning, Rose grabbed her wand and went to go answer the door when sure enough when she opened it she saw Scorpius standing there.

She smiled, but looked at him oddly. "Why did you knock? Did you forget your key?"

"Nope." He smirked.

"…okay…You're weird." She laughed, moving forward to kiss him hello.

In a flash his hands were around her waist and he turned that kiss into a full on snog. Surprised, Rose let out a gasp, her arms tightening against his neck. "Well hello…" She giggled. "Long mission?"

"I just missed you." He said hotly, lining kisses down the hollow of her neck. "What have you been up to?"

"Um…" She muttered trying to focus on what he was saying and not on what he was doing. "Nothing really. Just work and stuff."

"Have you thought anymore about that Barcelona vacation I suggested?" He murmured, his body pressing against hers, pining her body against the house.

Rose said, "Well yeah, but you have to give me a date so I can take off work."

"Hmmm…What about sometime next month?"

"If you can pick a specific date then it should be fine. Harvill will be off her maternity leave by then."

Scorpius pulled away, earning a groan from her. He smirked at her reaction, and held out his hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"As much as I'd love to get a look at that little star you have on your lower hip…" He brushed his lips against her forehead. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Rose eyed him, "Okay…and that would be?"

He put his hand out again.

She took it. "Damon is bringing Leo back soon…"

"No he isn't."

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Rose questioned, her eyebrows puckered together. "You _are_ acting weird…"

Scorpius said, "No I'm not."

"Yes, you are." She replied, "But do you want to hear what Caroline's going to do for her birthday party?"

"…Oh no, what is it this time?"

"She wants to have an adult costume party." Rose snorted. "She was really into muggle fairytales. She wants to be Cinderella, James be the prince, me to be the Little Mermaid and Damon wants to be Prince Eric."

"He's the guy that gets with The Little Mermaid. In his defense he does look just like him."

"Ah huh." Scorpius said, "And who would I be?"

"…Damon wants you to be sleeping beauty…because you know you're blond…" Rose said lamely.

"I'm sure he does," Scorpius shook his head with a scoff. "I'll have a little chat with him. He is mad if he thinks I'm going to let him play your boyfriend."

"I think that's the whole point. Just to rile you up." Rose shrugged, walking with him down the rock trail. Her eyes narrowed when she looked up at the darkened path and saw lights ahead. "We didn't put lights down there…"

Scorpius kept his face neutral, though him fighting a smile.

"What is going on?"

"Just wait."

She sighed. "I have no patience."

"I'm fully aware of that and I also know you can be patient when you want to be. So just hold on a minute longer."

"Fine. But there better be chocolate or some sort of baked goods at the end of this walk." Rose said laying her head on his shoulder.

Scorpius kissed the top of her head. "I make no guarantee's."

"Fine, fine."

* * *

It was remarkable; Scorpius was in bed for three years. It was so long that the Healer's were positive he'd never wake up. There were people who woke up out of comas after five years so it wasn't impossible. It took him two months to get back to full strength, but eventually he made it through. It didn't matter how much time had passed since he woke up, every day she saw him was another day she was amazed that he was even alive. After everything he was okay, better than okay he was fine and she couldn't believe it. Maybe if he had woken up after three months it wouldn't have been so remarkable, but three years? Just looking at him, she never ceased to be amazed.

She hugged into his arm and sighed. But just as she was beginning to lose curiosity, the path opened up and there was a picnic bench there with an assortment of all of their favorite foods.

Rose swooned. "_…you are my favorite_. You are just my absolute favorite."

"Let's eat." He said guiding her to the table.

Rose dug in and ate as much as she could, when she finished eating though, she looked around in confusion wondering why he went out of his way to do this. She appreciated it and loved it, but she didn't understand why he made such a big deal out of it. They could have eaten all of this in the house…why were there flower pedals on the floor, why did he light up the entire path….why was he wearing his dress shirt and pants?

She didn't want to assume anything, but he said he wanted to talk so as soon as she finished the wine left in her glass she stared at him questioningly.

"So," she gestured, "What's going on?"

He smirked.

"Oh come on!" She groaned. "Why are you doing this to me? Just tell me. Did you get a promotion? Are you pregnant?"

"Yes. I'm pregnant."

Rose moaned. "Scorp!"

"Fine," He said, reaching forward and taking her hand. "So…we've been together a while, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And you know I love you."

She narrowed her eyes, "Ah huh."

"So I just wanted to ask if you'll do me a favor?"

"…Okay…?"

Scorpius grinned at her hesitation. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"What when we were 11?"

"We met before that." He said softly, "Remember I used to play Quidditch with Al and Damon, when we were little?"

She squinted, "Yeah."

"Well after our games sometimes we'd come back to Al's house and one time you were over playing with Albus, you were still in your Quidditch gear-"

"Yeah, yeah no..._ I remember._" Rose said quickly, "I made my parents play me up a league so I could play with James."

"Well you were there…I don't really remember much else, but I remember seeing you."

She frowned, "You know, I thought we met at Hogwarts…"

"I thought so too, until I found this." He reached into his pocket and handed her a picture.

It was of them, James, Albus and Damon. They were so little they were on the brooms that only went a few feet off the ground.

Laughing, Rose covered her mouth, "_We were so cute_!"

"And Al also found a few more pictures when he was looking through his stuff."

Rose frowned and took the pictures. There were a few more of the group playing Quidditch, but then there were pictures of them from when they were fifteen, sixteen and seventeen. Sometimes they were in their muggle clothes in their common room, but Albus somehow had gotten some pictures of them at prefect meetings over the years. The last one picture though, she didn't even remember taking. It wasn't shocking because she took pictures with practically everyone at graduation, but she didn't remember taking one with him. They both were smiling; though Rose could see they were standing a bit farther than she was with anyone else. Clearly she had still been awkward about what had happened between them, but it was nothing compared to the small smirk on his face.

"You look arrogant as fuck in this picture." Rose snorted, with a shake of her head. "Look at your face."

"Well remember what happened the night before?"

Blushing she nodded, "Yes. I do."

There were a few more pictures in the pile, but they were all from the past few years. One was from when he first week she was at work with him, she could see the irritation on her own face.

"Awww." Rose smiled, "I hated you so much!"

"Why does that get an 'Aw,?"

"Because you deserved it."

Rose stopped at one picture, it was right behind a group picture of all of them at dinner. It was when they were still pretending to be together, but Rose noticed that if she didn't know better she would have thought it was a legitimate thing by they way his hand was curled around the back of her chair, and the way she rested back against him.

"No wonder James believed us…"

Scorpius said nothing.

She looked few the last few and went back to one. It was taken a month after he woke up from his coma. He was still a little weak, but still he had insisted he was strong enough for her lay against them. Judging by the background they were at her parents house, and in the distance Rose could Leo playing with Hugo on the floor.

"I didn't realize Al took all of these…"

"He didn't. Some of those were Caroline's, James's or your mother's."

Rose glanced up because he sounded like he had moved closer. She smiled, but that expression froze on her face when she saw he was on his knee right next to her with a ringbox in his hand.

"_Oh_…" She breathed, her jaw dropping.

"I know I don't have to do this because we are basically married already, but I'd like…" He took a second, looking down before returning his gaze to her. "I'd like to make it official. I want you to be my wife and if you'd like that to-"

"_Yes_."

Scorpius grinned, laughing slightly. "You're not going to let me do a speech are you?"

"You can." She shook her head, her face flushed. "You just don't have to."

"That's why I want to. You've never made me do anything I didn't want to, well except for spending time with your father, but I understand your point for that…Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I love you and that even if we didn't have Leo and I never was in that coma…I'd still want this. I'd want you, forever and I'd want there to be a symbol of it on both of our fingers. Because we are connected in every other way that matters and I want to be as binded to you as humanly possible."

"_Binded_?"

"…shite…" He grumbled, "I didn't mean…I buggered it up, didn't I?"

"No!" She laughed, "It was just an odd choice of words. You are doing wonderful."

Scorpius took her hands and kissed them. "So will you?"

"Ah huh," She mumbled, stooping to peck him on the lips. "Now let me see what ring Lily picked out for me."

"How did-?"

"Are you kidding me? My cousin would kill you if you didn't ask for her assistance."

He opened the box, took out the ring and slipped it onto her left hand, second finger from the left.

"I never thought I'd like seeing a ring there…" She admitted in a quiet voice.

"Does it fit?"

"Yes, _it fits_." She marveled at it for a few minutes before wrapping her arms around Scorpius and knocking him clear onto the ground. Rose then proceeded to snog the life out of him.

Scorpius reacted instantly, his hands slipping down her back, gripping her tightly. Pulling away for a moment, he grinned deliriously. "Want to go inside?"

"How long is Damon taking Leo?"

"All night."

"Let's go." Rose rolled off of him and helped him up off the ground.

"Okay Rose…Malfoy."

"You know I'm keeping my last name."

"Yes but that disgusted look on your face was worth it." He snickered wrapping his arm around her securely.

"Wanker." She grumbled under her breath.


End file.
